BV  285  .W342  1915 
Ward,  William  Thurman,  1871- 
Variety  in  the  prayer 
meeting 


VARIETY    IN    THE 
PRAYER  MEETING 

A  MANUAL  FOR  LEADERS 


BY 

WILLIAM  T.  WARD 


INTRODUCTION  BY 
BISHOP  WILLIAM  O.  SHEPARD 


THE  METHODIST  BOOK  CONCERN 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


Copyright,  1915,  by 
WILLIAM  T.  WARD 


TO 
MY  WIFE 


CONTENTS 

chapter  page 

Preface 7 

Introduction   by  Bishop  W.   O.   Shepard  ....       9 

I,  The  Place  of  the   Prayer  Meeting  in  the 

Christian  Church 15 

II.  The  Prayer  Meeting  Leader 27 

III.  The  Prayer  Meeting  Room 57 

IV.  Advertising  the  Prayer  Meeting 63 

V.  The  Opening  Exercise 75 

VI.  Prayer  in  the  Prayer  Meeting 83 

VII.  The  Prayer  Meeting  Lesson 101 

VIII.  Prayer  Meeting  Testimony 113 

IX.  Prayer  Meeting  Music 123 

X.  Special  Prayer   Meetings 139 

XI.  Some  Other  Things  Worth  While 161 

XII.  The  Benediction 179 

Appendix.    Prayer  Meeting  Bibliography.  . .  189 


PREFACE 

He  who  made  the  world  likes  variety.  We 
see  that  everywhere.  No  two  leaves  are  alike, 
the  stones  differ,  the  flowers  bloom  in  myriad 
hues,  the  clouds  shift  in  wondrous  panorama, 
"one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in 
glory";  each  human  face  has  its  own  peculiar 
features,  each  soul  its  own  peculiar  experi- 
ence; and  heaven  itself,  we  are  sure,  will  not 
be  after  a  stereotyped  pattern. 

The  fact  that  God's  efforts  are  never  formal, 
neither  in  nature  or  grace,  in  time  or  eternity, 
constitutes  one  reason  why  men  love  God's 
handiwork,  why  the  "old,  old  story"  as  expe- 
rienced in  life  and  related  in  testimony  is  ever 
new,  and  why  we  shall  enjoy  heaven  forever. 

If  our  prayer  meetings  lack  variety  must  we 
not  in  frankness  admit  that  they  are  less  than 
what  God  desires  them  to  be,  and  should  we 
not  expect  that  men  should  fail  in  enthusiasm 
for  them ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  if  we  build 
them  as  God  builds  his  universe  of  nature  and 
grace,  shall  we  not  more  perfectly  please  him 
and  more  surely  enlist  and  hold  the  interest  of 
men?    This  question  has  but  one  answer. 

7 


PREFACE 

To  assist  in  the  attainment  of  this  fine 
quality  this  volume,  containing  plans  and  sug- 
gestions by  the  author  and  others,  is  sent  forth 
with  the  prayer  that,  by  its  use,  in  some  meas- 
ure at  least,  the  prayer  meeting  may  increas- 
ingly become  a  meeting  that  has  no  place  for 
dullness  or  formality,  but  one  that  throbs  with 
life,  a  service  new  and  fresh,  bright  and  at- 
tractive, loved  of  men  and  blessed  of  God. 

Liberal,  Kansas.  William  T.  Ward. 


INTEODUCTION 

Jesus  said,  "Let  not  your  heart  be  troubled," 
and  in  the  same  discourse  he  discussed  with 
his  disciples  the  greatest  of  all  problems.  In 
saying  and  doing  so  he  taught  that  the  gospel 
stirs  the  mind  while  it  stills  the  heart. 

To-day  the  Christian  mind  is  stirred  beyond 
question  and  precedent. 

The  screw-beaten  ocean  paths  between  neigh- 
boring continents;  the  complex  of  wire  and 
illimitable  oceans  of  Hertzian  weaves  which 
bind  the  world  into  a  community ;  the  multitu- 
dinous literature  which  standardizes  all  think- 
ing and  feeling;  the  rising  tide  of  democracy 
in  America,  Europe,  Asia,  and  everywhere ;  the 
common  interest  of  all  peoples  in  the  explora- 
tion and  exploitation  of  all  natural  forces  and 
treasures  have  made  a  new  world,  and  none 
the  less  a  new  church.  The  church  reads  the 
Bible  to-day  in  the  light  of  the  "new  city,"  the 
"new  philanthropy,"  social  justice,  brother- 
hood, missions,  and  a  hundred  clamorous  isms 
crying  from  new  platforms,  "Lo!  here"  and 
"Lo !  there." 

9 


INTRODUCTION 

The  mind  is  mightily  stirred,  but  is  the  heart 
stilled? 

Who  is  sufficient  for  these  things?  Is  the 
church,  as  now  divided  and  more  or  less  intent 
upon  the  growth  of  the  various  branches?  Is 
even  a  united  church,  now  so  happily  prophe- 
sied by  so  many  overtures  and  courtesies,  suffi- 
cient for  the  new  world  task? 

The  answer  to  this  question  forever  must  be 
in  the  negative.  As  from  the  beginning,  "Our 
help  Cometh  from  God  who  made  heaven  and 
earth,"  and  who  by  his  providences  has 
brought  about  the  new  heaven  and  the  new 
earth  of  the  twentieth  century.  It  is  true  still 
that  "Except  the  Lord  keep  the  city,  the  watch- 
man waketh  but  in  vain."  Without  Him  who 
wept  over  Jerusalem,  and  doubtless  now  weeps 
over  Peking  and  Paris  and  London  and  New 
York;  without  Him  who  compassionated  the 
shepherdless  of  Galilee,  and  doubtless  has  com- 
passion on  the  myriads  of  unhoused,  unem- 
ployed, uncomforted,  unsaved  of  our  time; 
without  Him  whose  love  constrained  Paul  to 
his  mighty  labors  among  all  perils  and  hard- 
ships and  oppositions;  without  Him  who  is 
Vine  and  Way  and  Life  the  church  will  go 
round  and  round  without  progress,  like  a  boat 

10 


INTRODUCTION 

pulled  by  one  oar  with  much  agitation  of  the 
waters  and  exertion  of  the  rower. 

Our  clearest-eyed  prophets  are  saying,  "Let 
us  kneel  before  the  Lord  our  Maker,"  They 
are  reminding  us  of  the  neglected  might  of  in- 
tercessory prayer.  They  are  reminding  us  of 
the  strength  as  well  as  the  glory  of  being 
"workers  together  with  God."  They  are  point- 
ing us  to  the  abiding  truth  that  our  sufficiency 
is  in  God. 

Among  the  prophets  who  send  out  a  loud 
call  to  the  church  is  the  author  of  this  volume. 
While  many  in  our  day  deal  with  the  problems 
that  press  themselves  for  solution,  he  directs 
us  to  the  source  of  all  power  and  sufficiency. 
He  writes  not  for  the  brakeman,  but  for  the 
engineer  and  the  fireman.  He  deals  with  the 
indispensable  and  fundamental. 

This  book  will  be  found  to  be  surprisingly 
suggestive.  In  the  hands  of  an  intelligent 
leader  of  the  prayer  meeting  it  cannot  fail  to 
be  of  very  great  value.  Its  suggestions  intelli- 
gently used  will  kindle  a  multitude  of  fires  on 
cold  altars,  and  fan  dying  embers  into  a  living 
flame. 

The  author  writes  in  the  strength  of  the  in- 
ductive method.     He  knows  because  he  has 

11 


INTRODUCTION 

tried  and  proved.  His  own  success  is  the  war- 
rant of  success  to  those  who  give  the  care  and 
thought  and  prayerful  preparation  which  he 
has  given  and  which  is  evidenced  by  this  full- 
est treatment,  as  I  believe,  which  the  prayer 
meeting  has  received. 

May  its  cordial  reception  and  judicious  use 
wing  a  myriad  prayers  and  petitions  to  the 
Throne  of  Grace  and  Power. 

Kansas  City,  Kansas.         W.  O.  Shepard. 


12 


"And  let  us  consider  one  another  to  provoke  unto  love 
and  to  good  works:  not  forsaking  the  assembling  of 
ourselves  together,  as  the  manner  of  some  is;  but 
exhorting  one  another:  and  so  much  the  more,  as  ye 
see  the  day  approaching." — From  the  letter  to  the 
Hebrews. 

"Where  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  in  my 
name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst  of  them." — Jesus. 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  PLACE  OF  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

IN  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 


Pabageaphs 
1-5.    Its  place  in  history. 

1.  Such  a  meeting  to  be  expected. 

2.  In  New  Testament  days. 

3.  In  the  early  centuries. 

4.  In  the  Middle  Ages. 

5.  In  the  Reformation  Era. 
6-15.     Its  importance. 

6.  Acknowledged. 

7.  Enhanced. 

8-15.    Not  fully  realized. 
9.     Socially. 
10-14.    Statistically 

10.  The  statistical  ideal. 

11.  The        question,        "How 

large?" 

12.  The  true  criterion. 

13.  The      Sunday      preaching 

service   and    the   prayer 
meeting   compared, 

14.  A  standard  proposed. 
15.     In  the  literature  of  the  church. 

16.    An  opportunity  for  the  church. 


CHAPTER  I 

The  Place  of  the  Prayer  Meeting  in  the 
Christian  Church 

"My  house  is  the  house  of  prayer/^ — Luhe 
19.  46. 

1.  Prayer  is  essential  for  the  Christian, 
while  to  meet  for  prayer  is  a  privilege  and 
pleasure  as  great  for  the  soul  as  gathering 
around  the  festive  board  is  for  the  body.  No 
wonder  the  prayer  meeting  is  found  in  the 
church  through  all  its  history. 

2.  The  New  Testament  day  had  it.  The  one 
hundred  and  twenty  prayed  and  Jerusalem 
had  a  pentecost  (Acts  1.  12-26;  2.  1-47); 
"Peter  and  John/'  mark  you,  "Peter  and  John 
went  up  together  into  the  temple  at  the  hour  of 
prayer"  ( Acts  3.  1 ) ,  a  Jewish  service,  in  truth, 
but,  nevertheless,  attractive  to  these  two  Chris- 
tian men;  the  church  prayed  and  Peter  was 
delivered  from  prison  (Acts  12.  3-19)  ;  and 
Paul  and  Silas  prayed,  the  Philippian  jail  was 
earthquake  shaken,  and  the  jailer  was  con- 
verted (Acts  16.  25-34). 

17 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

3.  The  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era 
had  it — in  the  open  when  they  might,  in  the 
seclusion  of  the  catacombs  and  other  places  of 
retreat  when  they  must. 

4.  The  mists  of  the  Dark  Ages  so  obscured 
this  service  that  it  scarcely  appears. 

5.  The  Protestant  Reformation  revived  the 
prayer  meeting  and  has  brought  it  to  our  day. 
Now,  all  the  evangelical  denominations  sus- 
tain it  chiefly  as  a  midweek  service  which 
meets  upon  Wednesday  or  Thursday  evening 
of  each  w^eek. 

6.  Though  this  service  as  a  rule  is  very 
meagerly  attended,  yet  there  is  a  conviction 
abroad  relative  to  its  importance:  one  says 
that  the  prayer  meeting  is  the  heart  and  soul 
of  the  church ;  another  that  if  the  prayer  meet- 
ing succeeds  all  departments  of  the  church 
will  succeed ;  and  another,  that  it  is  the  spirit- 
ual barometer  of  the  church — statements 
which  embody  much  of  truth;  for  the  church 
has  no  service  more  fitted  to  be  called  its 
"heart  and  soul"  than  this ;  a  successful  prayer 
meeting,  too,  quickens  the  true  social  spirit, 
strengthens  every  great  reform,  deepens  mis- 
sionary interest  and  conviction,  inspires  larger 
financial  endeavor,  in  fact,  a  successful  prayer 

18 


PLACE  IN  THE  CHURCH 

meeting  does  bless  every  church  activity; 
while  as  an  indicator  of  spiritual  life  it  may 
well  be  called  the  "barometer"  of  the  church. 

7.  The  importance,  so  admitted,  is  all  the 
more  enhanced  in  these  days  because  of  the 
fact  that  class  meetings  and  kindred  services 
for  public  testimony  are  not  sustained  as 
formerly. 

8.  Yet,  while  we  praise  it  well,  there  are 
some  things  which  indicate  that  we  do  not 
fully  feel  the  force  of  our  laudations — that  we 
do  not  even  yet  adequately  appreciate  its  im- 
portance or  give  it  the  recognition  which  is 
its  due. 

9.  The  social  possibilities  of  the  prayer 
meeting  are  not  fully  realized,  and  in  some 
quarters  are  not  realized  at  all.  To  mention 
a  social  service  to  many  church  members 
means  to  them  anything  but  a  prayer  meeting ; 
yet  this  service  provides  the  great  social  op- 
portunity of  the  church.  Note  its  excellencies 
in  this  regard:  There  is  no  age  test  as  when 
you  announce  a  young  people's  service — the 
old,  the  middle-aged,  and  the  young  are  free  to 
come;  there  is  no  money  test  as  must  be  the 
case  when  a  money-raising  social  is  an- 
nounced ;  there  is  no  sex  test  as  is  true  when  a 

19 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PKAYER  MEETING 

women's  or  a  men's  meeting  is  held;  there  is 
no  educational  test  as  must  in  the  nature  of 
the  ease  be  in  training  classes  and  educational 
meetings — the  unlettered  have  opportunity 
here;  there  is  no  official  test  as  is  implied  in 
the  meeting  of  the  official  board  or  session. 
Age,  money,  sex,  education,  office — these  do 
not  constitute  a  passport  here :  as  wide  as  hu- 
man need,  as  wide  as  the  gospel  invitation,  so 
wide  is  the  prayer  meeting  welcome.  Besides, 
as  compared  with  the  Sunday  public  service  it 
provides  the  larger  opportunity  for  intimate 
acquaintance,  for  the  reason  that  it  is,  more 
than  it  is  possible  for  the  other  to  be,  the  great 
family  gathering  of  the  church;  furthermore, 
many  socials,  so  called,  meet  intermittently, 
and,  for  long  periods  only  occasionally,  while 
this  service  meets  regularly  once  a  week,  and 
that,  too,  at  the  time  best  adapted  for  social 
gatherings,  namely,  in  the  evening,  thus  pro- 
viding a  constant  and  favorable  social  oppor- 
tunity. The  minutes  before  the  opening  pro- 
vide opportunity  for  the  joyous  greeting  of 
acquaintances  and  the  introduction  of  strang- 
ers, while  delightful  social  fellowship  is  pos- 
sible in  the  minutes  during  which  the  company 
should   always   tarry   after   dismissal.      The 

20 


PLACE  IN  THE  CHURCH 

church  has  no  service  that  compares  with  this 
in  social  possibility.  We  will  do  well  to 
improve  it. 

10.  Statistically,  the  prayer  meeting  does 
not  loom  up  large;  in  fact,  it  does  not  loom  up 
at  all.  Pastors  and  lay  officers  are  required  to 
report  figures  for  church  membership,  church 
finances,  Sunday  schools,  young  people's  so- 
cieties, brotherhoods,  w^oman's  societies,  and 
periodicals,  but  not  for  attendance  upon  their 
prayer  meeting.  If  they  make  a  record  of  this 
it  is  because  they  themselves  choose  to  do  so, 
their  own  pleasure  and  interest  prompting 
them  in  the  matter.  Perhaps  the  fact  that  the 
attendance  upon  this  service  has  been  so 
meager  has  prevented  the  churches  from  re- 
quiring such  a  report;  yet  the  necessity  of 
making  it,  no  doubt,  would  have  incited  multi- 
tudes to  larger  interest  and  more  definite  ac- 
tion relative  to  this  service,  and  would  still  do 
so.  The  statistical  ideal,  we  are  ready  to  ad- 
mit, is  not  the  highest ;  yet  it  has  the  advantage 
of  being  so  tangible  that  men  readily  recog- 
nize it  when  it  is  placed  before  them ;  and  this 
is  of  profit,  for,  it  is  better  to  recognize  an 
ideal  and  fail  in  its  attainment  than  not  to 
recognize  it  at  all.     Of  course,  the  might  of 

21 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

prayer  is  not  to  be  measured  by  the  mere  size 
of  the  crowd;  yet  all  must  concede  that  a 
church  with  many  in  its  prayer  meeting  is 
more  nearly  ideal  than  one  whose  midweek 
service  is  supported  by  but  a  few. 

11.  "How  large  ought  my  prayer  meeting  to 
be?"  is  a  legitimate  question  for  every  prayer 
meeting  leader.  Let  us  acknowledge  at  once 
that  all  fields  do  not  respond  to  the  prayer 
meeting  idea  with  the  same  degree  of  alacrity. 
So  many  elements  enter  into  the  problem  that 
the  same  effort  applied  in  different  places  pro- 
duces different  results;  the  same  leader  may 
have  a  large  prayer  meeting  in  one  place  and  a 
small  one  in  another.  Notwithstanding  this 
admission  the  question  remains  for  every 
leader,  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  is  room 
for  improvement,  no  doubt,  in  every  field ;  and, 
as  long  as  this  is  true,  the  question  will  still 
remain.  The  leader  cannot,  of  course,  guaran- 
tee results ;  he  is  not  expected  to  do  that ;  but 
in  the  face  of  his  opportunity  it  is  his  duty  to 
put  his  best  self  into  the  service,  and  that  not 
spasmodically  but  incessantly.  If  he  does  less 
than  this,  and  his  service  falls  short  because  of 
it,  he  is  by  that  much  responsible  for  its  fail- 
ure.    Each  leader's  prayer  meeting  ought  to 

22 


PLACE  IN  THE  CHURCH 

be  as  large  as  the  opportunity  plus  his  effort 
can  make  it. 

12.  The  true  criterion  of  prayer  meeting  at- 
tendance, since  the  prayer  meeting  is,  in  a  spe- 
cial way,  the  gathering  of  the  church  family, 
is  not  the  mere  number  present,  but  rather 
that  number  as  related  to  the  total  member- 
ship of  the  church.  It  is  not  "how  many,"  but 
rather  "what  per  cent."  Some  churches  with 
a  large  prayer  meeting  in  mere  numbers,  com- 
pared with  others  by  the  per  cent  standard, 
might  not  make  so  favorable  a  showing. 

13.  The  public  preaching  services  vary  in 
their  per  cent  of  attendance.  The  environ- 
ment of  the  church,  whether  city,  town,  or 
country,  its  location  in  the  same,  the  distance 
its  members  live  from  it,  the  age  of  its  mem- 
bership, and  the  desire  they  have  to  avail  them- 
selves of  its  privileges  largely  determine  how 
well  its  services  are  to  be  maintained;  but  it 
may  safely  be  said  that,  as  a  rule,  the  larger 
the  church  the  smaller  the  per  cent  of  attend- 
ance upon  its  preaching  service.  There  are 
happy  exceptions,  of  course.  A  church  of 
forty  members  can  more  easily  have  a  one  hun- 
dred per  cent  crowd  than  a  church  of  four 

hundred  members.    The  fact  is  a  large  propor- 

23 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

tion  of  the  churches  of  Christendom  do  not  at- 
tain a  one  hundred  per  cent  attendance  in 
their  preaching  services.  Some  are  out  of  the 
community,  some  are  sick,  some  are  sinfully 
indifferent,  and  the  transient  churchgoer  does 
not  attend  in  sufficient  numbers  to  make  up 
for  the  absentees.  The  congregation  which  sus- 
tains a  one  hundred  per  cent  preaching  service 
throughout  the  year  is  to  be  congratulated. 
But,  though  attendance  upon  the  regular 
preaching  service  comes  short  of  one  hundred 
per  cent,  there  are  several  reasons  why  prayer 
meeting  attendance  should  be  even  smaller: 

( 1 )  The  prayer  meeting  is  a  midweek  service. 

(2)  The  unsaved  of  the  community  are  not 
drawn  to  it  in  such  large  numbers.  (3)  Fewer 
transients  attend.  (4)  Many  church  members 
who  will  attend  the  Sunday  services  have  no 
desire  to  attend  the  midweek  service. 

14.  The  twofold  fact  that  attendance  upon 
the  Sunday  services  of  the  church  as  a  rule  is 
less  than  one  hundred  per  cent  of  the  member- 
ship, and  that,  for  evident  reasons,  prayer 
meeting  attendance  must  be  still  smaller,  does 
not  justify  the  feeling  that  any  sort  of  re- 
sponse to  the  prayer  meeting  invitation  will 
do.     Evidently  that  feeling  has  been  abroad 

24 


PLACE  IN  THE  CHURCH 

too  much  already.  The  response  has  been 
meager.  The  prayer  meeting  is  small — too 
small.  No  argument  is  needed  to  prove  it;  it 
is  a  fact  universally  admitted.  How  small? 
Answer :  average  attendance  for  the  year,  five 
per  cent,  ten  per  cent,  fifteen  per  cent,  yes,  in 
some  cases,  twenty  per  cent,  and  occasionally, 
twenty-five  per  cent.  Very  well.  But  all 
things  considered,  ought  not  our  prayer  meet- 
ing attendance  equal  thirty- three  and  one 
third  per  cent  of  our  church  membership?  At 
least,  would  we  not  do  well  to  set  that  as  a 
standard  and  give  ourselves  to  its  attainment? 
That  per  cent  would  provide  incentive  for  all ; 
it  would  be  achieved  by  multitudes ;  and  many 
who  would  fail  in  fully  realizing  it  would  be 
encouraged  by  the  fact  that  they  had  come 
nearer  reaching  the  standard  than  if  computed 
upon  a  one  hundred  per  cent  basis.  Let  it  be 
known  that  when  a  church's  prayer  meeting 
attendance  equals  thirty-three  and  one  third 
per  cent  of  its  membership  that  church  has 
a  one  hundred  per  cent  prayer  meeting,  at 
once  a  new  thrill  of  interest  will  quicken  the 
pulses  of  the  membership  of  that  church.  The 
possible  inspires  effort;  the  hopelessness  of 
achieving  the  impossible  paralyzes  it.    Thirty- 

25 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

three  and  one  third  per  cent  equals  one  hun- 
dred per  cent !  That  is  possible !  To  the  pos- 
sibility of  attaining  such  an  ideal,  let  the 
churches  add  the  requirement  of  annual  re- 
ports as  to  attendance,  and  the  prayer  meet- 
ing, no  doubt,  will  come  into  a  new  day. 

15.  Again,  we  write  myriads  of  books  upon 
other  phases  of  the  work  of  the  church,  but  so 
far  but  little  space  is  required  of  our  library 
shelf  to  hold  all  the  volumes  that  have  been 
written  upon  the  prayer  meeting. 

16.  Our  failure  to  recognize  the  importance 
of  the  prayer  meeting  socially,  our  refusal  to 
recognize  the  prayer  meeting  statistically,  and 
our  slowness  to  create  a  prayer  meeting  litera- 
ture reveal  the  need  which  constitutes  the  op- 
portunity for  the  church,  which,  if  improved, 
will  make  the  prayer  meeting  what  it  ought  to 
be,  while  the  church  as  a  result  will  become 
as  never  before  in  her  assurance  "clear  as  the 
sun,"  in  her  character  "fair  as  the  moon,"  and 
in  the  might  of  her  power  "terrible  as  an  army 
with  banners." 


26 


CHAPTER  U 
THE  PRAYER  MEETING.  LEADER 


Paragraph 

17.  The  pivotal  man, 

18.  Shifting  responsibility. 

19.  Four  phases  of  subject. 

The  Leader's  Personal  Experience 

20.  Necessary. 

The  Leader's  Personal  ATTifxiDE  Toward  tkb 
Prayer  Meeting 

21.  Belief  in  it. 

22.  Love  for  it. 

23.  Enthusiasm   concerning   it. 

24.  Expectation  for  it. 

The  Leader's  Work  in   Preparation 

25.  A  general  before  the  battle,  he  plans. 

26.  He    studies. 

27.  He  prays. 

28.  He  trusts. 

The  Leader  in  the  Meeting 

29.  The  question  of  apology. 

30.  A  general  in  the  battle,  he  leads. 

31.  Posture. 

32.  When  to  begin. 

33.  Make  service  largely  voluntary. 

34.  Complaining. 

35.  As  to  being  glad,  and  saying  so 

36.  Dealing  with  blunderers. 

37.  Meeting  "breaks." 
38,  39.  Securing  variety. 

38.  Leader  responsible  for, 

39.  How  to  obtain. 

40.  As  to  introducing  new  things, 

41.  Monopolizing  the  time. 

42.  Superfluity  of  comment, 

43.  Giving  definite  tasks, 

44.  Surrendering  the  meeting. 

45.  Making  the  prayer  meeting  really  such, 

46.  The  "at  home"  character  of  the  meeting, 

47.  Exalting  God  and  his  Word. 

48.  The  invitation  to  accept  Jesus. 

49.  Time,  how  long? 

50,  51.     Closing. 

50.  When? 

51.  Exception. 


CHAPTER  II 

The  Prayer  Meeting  Leader 

^'I  have  chosen  you,  and  ordained  you." — John 
15.  16. 

17.  Mr.  Moody  once  said,  "Where  one  fails 
in  the  pulpit,  I  believe  fifty  fail  in  the  prayer 
meeting,"  a  statement  the  truth  of  which 
should  challenge  every  preacher,  for  in  the 
organization  of  the  church  of  to-day  the 
preacher  is  responsible  not  only  for  the  Sun- 
day but  for  the  midweek  service  as  well.  He 
is  the  pivotal  man  in  both.  Our  Sunday 
schools  have  their  superintendents,  our  class 
meetings  their  lay  leaders,  our  brotherhoods, 
clubs,  w^omen's  societies,  and  young  people's 
organizations  their  presidents,  but  the  head- 
ship of  the  prayer  meeting  inheres  in  the  pas- 
tor. When  these  other  organizations  fail  the 
pastor  in  a  measure  escapes  whatever  reflec- 
tion is  attached  thereto,  but  when  the  prayer 
meeting  fails  he  is  the  responsible  head  in- 
volved.   Yet  we  fail  fifty  to  one,  and,  what  is 

29 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

worse,  we  are  all  too  often  content  to  have  it 
so.  Part  of  the  justification  of  Mr.  Moody's 
statement  lies  in  the  fact  that  as  pastors  we 
feel  the  importance  of  and  give  ourselves  to 
preparation  for  preaching,  but  we  do  not  so  in- 
sistently feel  the  importance  of  nor  so  defi- 
nitely give  ourselves  to  preparation  for  prayer 
meeting  leading.  We  make  the  Sunday  service ; 
we  let  the  prayer  meeting  happen.  We  suc- 
ceed in  the  one;  we  fail  in  the  other.  When 
we  occasionally  fail  in  the  one  we  blush ;  when 
we  continually  fail  in  the  other  we  take  it  as  a 
matter  of  course;  and  until  we  as  leaders  feel 
the  importance  of  this  service  and  give  to  it 
time  and  effort,  we  may  expect  it  to  continue 
largely  as  it  is. 

18.  The  wise  pasior,  however,  not  only  re- 
fuses to  minify  the  relation  he  bears  to  his 
prayer  meeting,  he  also  refuses  to  shirk  the 
responsibility  it  lays  upon  him.  He  invariably 
leads  his  own  meeting.  Laymen  of  marked 
ability,  superannuate  and  supernumerary  min- 
isters, and  fellow  ministers  who  occupy  high 
positions  in  the  church  may  be  present,  but  he 
will  not  yield  his  prayer  meeting  privilege  any 
more  than  he  would  yield  his  pulpit  privilege ; 
nor  would  they,  if  they  be  wise,  take  affront  at 

30 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

his  failure  to  do  so ;  if  they  be  not  wise  there  is 
all  the  more  reason  for  him  to  walk  in  the  path 
of  his  own  duty.  His  people  look  to  him  for 
leadership  and  he  will  not  disappoint  them.  In 
shaping  his  meetings  he  will  be  glad  to  recog- 
nize his  brethren,  lay  and  clerical,  and,  in  his 
absence,  will  commit  the  service  to  the  leader- 
ship of  some  layman  or  minister,  and  will  help 
the  one  chosen  by  urging  his  people  to  give  the 
new  leader  the  same  hearty  support  they 
accord  him. 

19.  To  the  prayer  meeting  leader — the  piv- 
otal man — four  things  are  vital :  his  personal 
experience;  his  attitude  toward  the  prayer 
meeting;  his  work  in  preparation;  and  his 
work  in  the  meeting.  > 

THE   LEADER^S   PERSONAL   EXPERIENCE 

20.  The  first  necessity  of  a  prayer  meeting 
leader  is  a  personal  Christian  experience.  "As 
the  priest,  so  the  people"  can  truly  and  appro- 
priately be  modified  into  "As  the  prayer  meet- 
ing leader,  so  the  prayer  meeting  company." 
Now,  in  God's  great  plan  the  leader  is  respon- 
sible for  his  personal  experience.  Since  this  is 
true,  should  he  discover  any  lack  in  his  life, 
knowing  that  Jesus  has  provided  abundance 

31 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

of  grace,  that  God  is  anxious  to  bestow  it,  and 
that  the  Holy  Ghost  is  eager  to  bring  it,  let 
him  give  himself  to  God  with  abandon,  and  by 
faith  claim  the  riches  of  "the  fullness  of  the 
blessing  of  the  gospel  of  Christ."  Thus  will  he 
become  a  Canaan  dweller.  The  milk  and 
honey,  the  figs  and  pomegranates  of  that 
goodly  land  will  continually  refresh  his  soul. 
There  ^411  be  about  his  life  joy  and  cheer  and 
warmth.  He  will  not  be  known  as  an  Israelite 
weeping  by  the  rivers  of  Babylon,  but  as  a  dis- 
ciple in  the  full  flush  of  a  pentecostal  experi- 
ence. King  David's  experience,  "My  cup  run- 
neth over,"  will  be  his  also;  and  the  people 
who  come  into  his  meeting  will  know  it  is  so, 
and  more,  they  ^t.11  share  the  joy  of  his  over- 
flowing heart. 

THE  LEADER^S  PERSONAL  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THE 
PRAYER   MEETING 

21.  It  is  possible  for  a  man  who  really  loves 
God  to  feel  that,  after  all,  the  prayer  meeting 
does  not  amount  to  much.  This  feeling,  of 
course,  is  fatal  to  every  prayer  meeting  inter- 
est and  endeavor.  However  much  observation 
may  tend  to  confirm  that  opinion,  yet  the 
prayer   meeting   leader   who   would   succeed 

32 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

must  keep  his  faith  in  the  possibilities  of  this 
service — he  must  believe  in  this  means  of 
grace.  If  he  is  tempted  to  doubt  its  worth,  let 
him  again  take  a  glance  at  Jerusalem  stirred 
after  the  ten-day  prayer  meeting,  or  at  Peter 
led  out  of  prison  by  an  angel  in  answer  to  the 
prayers  of  his  fellows,  or  at  the  quaking  Phi- 
lippian  jail  when  Paul  and  Silas  prayed,  and 
his  doubts  as  to  the  worth  of  united  prayer 
will  be  effectually  dispelled.  Moreover,  if  he 
will  but  open  his  eyes,  there  are  answers 
enough  to  united  prayers  in  these  days  in  mis- 
sionary triumphs,  in  revival  victories,  in  per- 
sonal life  to  mightily  strengthen  his  faith. 
This  faith,  when  attained,  is  of  the  sort  that, 
when  an  organized  class,  the  choir,  some  club 
or  other  society  desires  to  use  the  prayer  meet- 
ing hour  for  its  own  purpose  "because  all  the 
other  evenings  are  taken,"  refuses  to  consider 
the  great  midweek  service  a  convenience  which 
may  be  shifted  at  anybody's  and  everybody's 
will,  but  a  necessity  which  not  only  merits  but 
must  have  right  of  way. 

22.  The  leader  must  not  only  believe  in  the 
prayer  meeting,  he  must  love  it.  He  must 
look  for  its  coming  as  those  who  wait  for  the 
morning.     When  he  sings,  "Sweet  hour  of 

33 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

prayer,  sweet  hour  of  prayer,"  it  should  be  not 
merely  with  his  lips,  but  TN-ith  his  heart  also. 
Now,  love  can  be  cultivated,  and,  if  any  leader 
finds  he  is  lacking  in  this  affection  as  related 
to  the  prayer  meeting  and  will  set  himself  to 
the  beautiful  task  of  nurturing  it,  he  will  find 
it  grow  to  his  heart's  comfort,  and  the  service 
become,  instead  of  a  weekly  grind,  a  weekly 
delight, 

23.  Faith  in  the  prayer  meeting  and  love  for 
it  must  eventuate  in  enthusiasm  concerning  it. 
It  will  have  a  place  in  the  leader's  thought  and 
conversation,  at  home  and  abroad,  and  this 
even  though  his  meeting  be  big  in  numbers  or 
small.  A  friend  of  the  author's  knew  this  se- 
cret. When  he  took  up  a  certain  pastorate  he 
found  no  prayer  meeting.  He  at  once  an- 
nounced the  service,  but  when  the  evening 
arrived,  no  one  but  himself  came.  He  sang 
and  prayed,  and  rejoiced  in  God  alone.  This 
he  did  many  weeks.  Meanwhile  Sunday  by 
Sunday  he  kept  telling  the  people  how  glorious 
the  prayer  meetings  were.  He  was  not  misrep- 
resenting, either,  for  he  knew  what  each  of  us 
should  know,  that  is,  how  to  have  a  prayer 
service  by  one's  self  and  enjoy  it.  Finally,  one 
day  at  the  Ladies'  Aid  Society  one  woman 

34 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

raised  the  question  as  to  who  had  been  going 
to  prayer  meeting.  It  developed  that  none  of 
those  present  had  been  there.  They  decided  to 
go,  and  on  the  next  prayer  meeting  night  the 
pastor's  cup  of  joy  was  full  when  his  Ladies' 
Aid  Society  marched  in.  A  great  revival  fol- 
lowed. A  pastor's  enthusiasm  over  a  series  of 
prayer  meetings  where  he  was  the  only  attend- 
ant won  the  day.  Enthusiasm  bestowed  upon 
this  service  is  never  in  vain;  it  is  a  never- 
failing  magnet — it  always  attracts. 

24.  The  leader  must  expect  his  meetings  to 
grow.  And  why  not?  Faith  in  and  love  and 
enthusiasm  for  the  service,  together  with  the 
fact  that  prayer  meeting  attendance  in  all  the 
world  is  very  meager  not  only  makes  possible 
but  should  incite  that  expectation.  Sad  in- 
deed that  so  many  leaders  do  not  seem  to  have 
any  thought  about  the  grow^th  of  this  service. 
They  do  not  seem  to  see  the  possibility.  What 
an  opportunity  for  accomplishing  something 
tangible  they  miss !  Two  hundred  members  in 
the  church  and  but  ten  at  prayer  meeting! 
Could  not  ten  more  be  persuaded  to  come?  If 
so,  a  one  hundred  per  cent  gain  could  be  re- 
ported ;  and  if  twenty  more  would  come  a  two 
hundred  per  cent  gain  would  be  achieved.  That 


VARIETY  IN  THE  TRAYER  MEETING 

would  be  something  to  shout  over.  That  pos- 
sibility is  found  in  thousands  of  the  churches 
of  our  day.  The  leader  should  have  the  vision 
of  that  possibility  as  it  applies  to  his  own 
prayer  meeting;  and  when  he  has  it  he  will 
have  a  heart  big  with  expectation  till  that 
vision  is  realized. 

THE   LEADER^S   WORK   IN   PREPARATION 

25.  The  leader  in  preparation  is  a  general 
before  the  battle,  and  as  such  does  not  leave 
the  meeting  to  the  caprice  of  mere  chance.  The 
field  and  the  forces  engage  him.  He  plans. 
The  next  meeting  is  in  his  thought;  he  also 
has  in  view  the  campaign  for  weeks  to  come. 

26,  He  not  only  formulates  plans,  he  sets 
himself  to  the  work  of  preparation  for  their 
execution.  He  studies,  and  in  doing  so  does 
not  hesitate  to  use  all  available  helps.  Know- 
ing that  books  and  periodicals  are  published 
and  sold  for  use,  he  acts  accordingly.  The 
prayer  meeting  talk  may  not  require  the  effort 
in  quantity  the  Sunday  sermon  does;  but  it 
receives  its  due  share  in  quality.  He  not  only 
prepares  for  the  meeting  by  the  study  of  books 
but  also  by  observation  of  things  and  of  men. 
He  is  constantly  on  the  alert  for  ideas  and 

36 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

suggestions  from  all  sources.  Conversation 
with  Christian  workers,  and  attendance  upon 
the  midweek  and  Sunday  services  of  other  con- 
gregations, upon  conferences  and  associations, 
conventions  and  institutes,  provide  many 
things  which  find  their  way  into  his  midweek 
service.  Thus  he  measures  up  to  his  prayer 
meeting  privilege  as  well  as  to  his  pulpit 
privilege;  and  in  so  doing,  the  more  nearly 
realizes  the  ideal  of  the  true  minister  of  the 
gospel. 

27.  He  prays.  He  is  well  acquainted  with 
God  and  they  talk  together  about  the  meeting. 
He  tells  God  of  his  disappointments  and 
praises  him  for  his  triumphs;  he  whispers 
into  the  divine  ear  his  deepest  wish  for  him- 
self and  for  his  people;  while  God,  in  turn, 
pours  out  upon  him  the  fullness  of  his  grace 
and  makes  him  a  man  with  a  burning  heart, 
a  man  with  an  overflowing  soul. 

28.  Having  planned  and  studied  and  prayed 
he  trusts  it  all  to  God,  being  willing  that  his 
plans  may,  under  the  immediate  leadership  of 
the  Holy  Spirit,  yield  to  something  else.  Vic- 
tory is  his  before  he  enters  the  service.  It 
could  not  be  otherwise.  And  whether  one  or 
many  come  God  receives  glory. 

37 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PEAYEK  MEETING 

THE   LEADER   IN   THE    MEETING 

29.  If  anyone  called  to  this  high  privilege 
should  esteem  it  so  lightly  as  to  come  before 
his  company  at  any  time  with  indifferent  prep- 
aration, and  should  be  tempted  to  apologize 
therefor,  let  him  refrain ;  no  need  to  take  time 
for  that  humiliating  procedure;  the  service 
itself  very  likely  will  advertise  his  failure  and 
publish  his  shame. 

30.  The  leader  in  preparation  is  a  general 
before  the  battle;  the  leader  in  the  meeting  is 
a  general  in  the  battle.  In  the  one  he  must 
command  himself;  in  the  other  he  must  com- 
mand others.  But  when  he  commands  it  must 
be  by  saying  "come"  and  not  "go."  He  must 
have  the  spirit  of  the  great  "Commander," 
who  is  also  the  "Good  Shepherd."  In  Prot- 
estantism the  age  of  the  dictator  is  past.  Our 
people  think.  They  have  feelings.  They  have 
rights.  Our  prayer  meeting  folks  are  men  and 
women.  They  do  not  come  to  the  service  to  be 
driven,  but  to  be  led.  To  this  end  they  gladly 
place  themselves  under  the  care  of  the  leader, 
who  they  think  will  measure  up  to  his 
privilege.  They  want  new  vision;  they  want 
to  be  taken  to  the  heights;  and  happy  is  that 
leader  whose   spirit,   nmnner,   and   word  is, 

38 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

"Come  with  me  and  we  will  together  see  the 
delectable  mountains." 

31.  As  a  general  he  should  always  stand  un- 
less he  be  upon  his  knees  with  the  company  in 
prayer.  The  leader  who  announces  a  hymn 
and  then  drops  into  a  chair  so  that  he  can 
readily  see  the  faces  of  only  a  few,  or  worse 
still,  sits  down  in  a  pew  with  his  back  to  the 
company,  is  in  a  fair  way  to  lose  the  battle. 
An  alert  leader  standing  upon  the  floor,  where 
face  readily  meets  face,  commands.  Coun- 
tenances speak  when  voices  are  silent,  and  the 
standing  leader  can  tell  from  the  faces  of  his 
people  how  the  battle  goes.  He  is  readily 
aware  of  impending  defeat  and  can  bring  up 
his  reserves.  He  is  equally  aware  of  victory 
and  is  enabled  to  push  it  on  to  greater  tri- 
umph. More  than  this,  while  there  is  help  in 
the  faces  of  the  company  for  him,  there  is  also 
help  in  his  face  for  the  company.  Outside  of 
seasons  of  prayer  there  are  only  two  occasions 
when  the  leader  should  sit  down:  When  spe- 
cial music  is  being  rendered,  or  when  some  one 
else  is  presenting  the  Scripture  lesson  or  some 
other  special  subject. 

32.  Begin  on  time.  God  does.  Sunrise 
never  lags.    If  the  prayer  meeting  conforms  to 

39 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

this  good  rule,  it  must  be  because  the  leader 
wills  it.  The  leader  who  is  at  home  when  the 
second  bell  rings  is  sure  to  have  a  tardy  meet- 
ing, for  a  late  leader  means  a  late  people.  It 
is  no  excuse  to  say  the  people  are  not  there. 
The  janitor,  no  doubt,  is  there,  and  he  is 
enough  to  begin  with ;  and  if  he  fails  the  leader 
may  and  should  begin  with  himself.  An  ac- 
quaintance of  the  author's  went  to  his  first 
Sunday  evening  service  in  a  new  pastorate. 
The  ringing  of  the  second  bell  found  only  the 
janitor  and  himself  present.  He  announced 
the  hymn.  They  sang.  He  prayed.  The  serv- 
ice proceeded.  The  congregation  sifted  in 
through  the  progress  of  the  exercises.  They 
seemed  chagrined.  They  had  never  seen  it 
after  this  fashion.  The  former  pastor,  a  good 
man,  had  been  accustomed  to  wait  for  them; 
the  new  pastor  evidently  was  going  to  be  dif- 
ferent. Suffice  it  to  say,  he  never  had  to  begin 
a  service  with  only  the  janitor  again.  The 
thing  this  preacher  did  on  Sunday  evening 
should  be  done  on  every  prayer  meeting  eve- 
ning, regardless  of  how  many  are  there.  Be- 
gin on  time.  Because  the  prayer  meeting 
crowd  is  smaller  than  the  Sunday  crowd  the 
temptation  to  wait  will  be  greater,  but  the 

40 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

leader  must  not  yield  to  it.  There  is  some- 
thing thrilling  in  the  fact  that  when  the  time 
of  opening  arrives  and  the  bell  ceases  ringing 
all  the  people  of  the  church  community,  the 
shut-ins,  women  and  children  in  their  homes, 
men  in  their  places  of  business,  those  whom 
necessity  requires  to  be  absent  for  the  evening, 
the  careless  ones — all  know  that  their  pastor 
is  on  the  floor  in  the  midst  of  the  battle.  Such 
promptness  appeals  to  the  business  man,  it 
fits  into  the  busy  housewife's  plans,  and  is  ap- 
proved by  all.  If  the  leader  is  there  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes  early  he  will  have  an  opportu- 
nity not  only  to  see  that  the  room  is  arranged, 
that  the  hymnals  and  Bibles  are  in  place,  but 
also  to  extend  to  his  company  a  cheerful  greet- 
ing as  they  come ;  and  besides,  he  himself  will 
avoid  the  distracting  rush  incident  to  a  last- 
minute  arrival. 

33.  Make  the  service  largely  voluntary. 
Some  have  been  brought  up  in  churches  and 
families  where  the  privilege  of  taking  part 
publicly  has  not  been  dwelt  upon  or  encour- 
aged ;  some  desire  to  take  part,  but  speak  brok- 
enly and  are  afraid  of  criticism;  others  are 
timid;  and  some,  in  truth,  are  willing  to  be 
present,  but  do  not  desire  to  speak  at  all.    To 

41 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PKAYER  MEETING 

call  upon  such  will  bring  a  response  on  the 
part  of  some,  of  course,  but  others  will  make 
it  an  excuse,  though  they  may  not  publicly  ad- 
mit it,  for  remaining  away.  In  fact,  if  it  be 
generally  known  that  it  is  the  custom  to  call 
upon  anyone  and  everyone  indiscriminately, 
many  will  never  risk  themselves  in  the  meet- 
ing. It  does  not  adequately  cover  the  situa- 
tion to  bluntly  say  that^  everybody  ought  to 
get  salvation  enough  to  enable  him  to  gladly 
take  part.  That  may  be  true;  but  we  must 
admit,  however,  that  a  very  high  degree  of 
piety  is  not  incompatible  with  a  large  meas- 
ure of  silence.  It  is  very  much  better  to  have 
a  large  company,  many  of  whom  are  not  ac- 
customed to  take  part  audibly,  than  to  have  a 
small  company,  all  of  whom  are  willing  to  be 
heard  in  the  meeting.  Those  whose  training 
and  disposition  have  not  led  them  to  take 
audible  part  cannot  but  be  helped  by  the 
prayers  and  testimonies  of  the  others ;  and,  as 
the  weeks  come  and  go,  the  joy  and  privilege 
of  using  their  own  voices  in  a  definite  way  in 
the  meeting  will  become  more  and  more  ap- 
parent to  them,  and  many  of  them  will,  sooner 
or  later,  break  their  silence  by  giving  their 
Toices  as  well  as  their  hearts  to  prayer  and 

42 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

praise.  ( See  "To  get  new  voices  to  pray,"  par- 
agraphs 90-94,  in  chapter  on  "Prayer  in  the 
Prayer  Meeting.")  Let  this  be  the  working- 
rule  in  this  matter:  Call  only  upon  those 
whom  you  know  it  will  not  embarrass,  and  on 
them  only  occasionally. 

34.  The  complaining  note  is  depressing.  It 
is  stifling.  Love  and  faith  will  not  grow  in 
its  atmosphere;  good  cheer  vanishes  when  it 
comes  in.  The  wise  leader  will  avoid  it. 
Many  are  absent;  there  are  apparent  reasons 
for  complaining,  but  apparent  reasons  should 
not  evoke  certain  chastisement,  especially 
when  such  chastisement  falls  upon  the  inno- 
cent and  does  not  help  the  absentees  who  may 
deserve  it  or  who  may  not.  Very  likely  some 
are  culpably  neglectful  of  duty  and  privilege ; 
better  see  them  privately.  Others  are  neces- 
sarily detained.  Sickness  of  themselves,  of 
family,  or  neighbors,  urgent  business  or  social 
demands,  or  absence  from  the  community — 
reasons  the  leader  does  not  know,  and,  if  he 
knew,  would  accept,  and  not  only  that,  but 
would  act  upon  himself  the  same  as  they,  if 
placed  in  their  stead — serve  to  keep  them 
away.  Under  such  circumstances  it  is  better 
to  keep  still.    The  meeting  sometimes  fails  to 

43 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

move  as  it  should.  Hold  steady.  It  is  un- 
likely that  everyone  will  do  as  he  should,  even 
in  a  prayer  meeting.  Some  fall  short  of  and 
others  go  beyond  our  expectations.  Occa- 
sionally nearly  everything  will  seem  to  go 
wrong ;  but  whatever  happens,  the  leader  must 
keep  his  poise.  Others  may  fail,  that  is  their 
affair;  but  if  the  leader  complains,  he  fails 
also,  and  that  is  his  affair.  It  should  not  be. 
The  prayer  meeting  may  not  grow^  from  vreek 
to  week  as  it  might ;  but  it  will  not  help  much 
to  complainingly  remind  the  people  of  the  fact. 
It  is  much  better  to  seek  the  causes  of  stagna- 
tion, and  these,  when  found,  may  not  call  for 
a  public  complaint,  but  may  rather  provide 
an  occasion  for  humiliation  and  heart-search- 
ing, and  require  for  their  remedy  the  wise, 
patient,  and  loving  attention  and  care  of  the 
leader. 

35.  It  is  wise  to  commend,  approve,  and 
praise.  When  a  half  dozen  come  through  the 
pouring  rain,  forget  the  absentees  and  tell 
those  who  have  come  how  much  cheer  they 
have  brought  into  your  heart;  when  they  re- 
spond readily  and  the  meeting  moves  easily, 
remind  them  of  the  beauty  of  such  a  service; 
when  the  meeting  grows  from  week  to  week, 

44 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

brag  about  it;  in  short,  keep  your  eyes  open 
for  something  to  be  glad  over,  and,  when  it  ap- 
pears, not  only  be  glad,  but  say  so.  The  people 
will  like  it ;  it  will  engender  enthusiasm ;  and 
the  company  will  feel  like  coming  again. 

36.  The  wise  leader  will  not  take  too  se- 
riously the  bad  blunders  that  some  people,  in- 
advertently or  otherwise,  make.  He  knows 
that  prayer  meeting  people  are  just  like  other 
folks  and  is  not  surprised,  therefore,  if  some 
time,  somewhere,  somebody  "breaks  out."  If 
the  offender  is  known  to  the  company,  they 
very  likely  expect  something  of  that  sort  in  the 
course  of  time.  If  he  is  a  stranger  possibly 
there  are  extenuating  circumstances,  which,  if 
known,  would  call  for  pity  rather  than  cen- 
sure. "Smile  and  keep  sweet."  If  insinua- 
tions are  offered,  make  no  defense.  Here  is  no 
place  for  argument.  Sing  a  stanza.  If  the 
blunderer  mixes  some  good  thought  with  his 
remarks,  a  thing  he  is  very  likely  to  do,  with  a 
word  of  comment  magnify  that  good  thought, 
disregarding  the  blunder.  The  people  will  be 
with  you.  The  wound  devotion  has  suffered 
will  readily  heal. 

37.  Anyone  who  undertakes  to  lead  a  prayer 
meeting  for  any  considerable  length  of  time 

45 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

will  sooner  or  later  meet  what  is  known  as  a 
"break."  For  no  apparent  reason,  the  response 
in  prayer  and  testimony  will  be  slow  or  cease 
altogether,  the  meeting  drags,  the  continuity 
of  the  service  is  interrupted,  and  the  tide,  in- 
stead of  going  on  to  flood,  begins  to  ebb.  At 
such  a  juncture  it  devolves  upon  the  leader  to 
"fill  in."  The  thing  to  do  is  something  else. 
I  If  testimonies  drag,  to  your  knees;  if  prayers 
fail,  s^ing  into  testimony;  call  for  Scripture 
promises;  have  lively  and  inspiring  choruses 
at  your  command ;  read  some  clipping  you  may 
have  saved  for  just  such  an  occasion ;  propose 
some  live  question  which  mil  wake  up  the 
lagging  powers;  drive  home  the  answer  with 
a  stroke  of  comment,  and  ask  another  ques- 
tion. Never  consent  to  retreat;  always  ad- 
vance, even  though  it  must  be  by  another  way. 
If  "breaks"  come  into  your  prayer  meeting, 
fellow  leader,  it  is  your  happy  privilege  to 
make  short  work  of  them. 

38.  If  the  prayer  meeting  is  to  be  character- 
ized by  variety,  it  must  be  because  the  leader 
wills  it.  If  he  consents  that  the  same  brother 
shall  pray  first  every  week  and  that  the  same 
sister  shall  testify  second,  that  the  same  songs 
be  sung  from  time  to  time,  and  that  the  whole 

46 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

program  be  so  stereotyped  that  the  absentees 
know  precisely  what  is  happening  up  at  the 
church  at  any  given  minute  during  the  prayer 
meeting  hour,  it  will  be  so.  Initiative  looking 
to  variety  must  be  exercised  by  some  one,  and 
even  though  there  should  be  persons  among 
the  prayer  meeting  attendants  who  have  the 
vision  of  it,  yet  their  opportunity  for  impress- 
ing it  upon  the  meeting,  because  the  part  that 
each  attendant  contributes  to  the  meeting  is  so 
meager,  is  small  indeed.  The  leader  is  the  one 
person  who  can  adequately  exercise  such  ini- 
tiative; and  happy  is  he  when  he  discovers 
that  fact  and  sets  himself  to  the  performance 
of  it. 

39.  In  seeking  variety  it  is  best  not  to  intro- 
duce too  many  new  things  in  one  meeting. 
One  new  thing  in  any  one  service  is  enough. 
In  fact,  many  services  will  not  have  nor  do 
they  need  any  distinctively  new  thing ;  but  the 
sense  of  newness,  freshness,  and  variety  will 
be  gained  (1)  by  varying  the  arrangement  of 
the  parts  of  the  service,  (2)  by  a  change  in 
emphasis  from  one  part  to  another,  or  the  ab- 
sence of  it,  (3)  by  employing  in  the  meeting, 
as  far  as  possible,  persons  who  may  not  have 
taken  active  part  for  some  time,  (4)  by  omit- 

47 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

ting  some  feature  for  a  time  and  then  taking 
it  up  again,  (5)  by  special  prayer  meetings, 
and,  ( 6 )  above  all,  by  the  spirit  the  leader  and 
the  company  put  into  the  service. 

40.  When  introducing  something  new,  do 
not  remind  the  company  of  that  fact.  Build 
your  services  as  God  builds  his  days.  The 
shifting  of  winds  and  slant  of  sun,  the  com- 
mingling of  heat  and  cold,  the  ever-changing 
clouds,  the  coming  of  seasons  that  bring  in 
turn  the  gray,  the  green,  the  red,  the  gold — 
these  and  some  other  things  besides,  some  we 
call  new,  some  that  are  old  made  over,  God 
puts  into  his  days,  so  that  the  last  day  is 
wholly  unlike  any  other;  and  men  enjoy  them 
all  and  want  to  live  in  them  forever.  God 
does  not  build  his  day  to  put  variety  into  it; 
he  puts  variety  into  it  to  build  it — and  he  does 
it  without  a  herald.  It  would  spoil  it  if  God 
should  say,  "Now  we  will  do  something  differ- 
ent." His  days  speak  for  themselves.  Build 
your  prayer  meeting  so,  and  men  will  like  it 
as  they  do  the  day.  They  will  not  come  to  see 
the  new  thing,  but  to  enjoy  the  light  and  life, 
the  blessing  and  beauty  of  it  all ;  and  if,  per- 
chance, they  say,  where  you  may  hear,  or  per- 
haps where  you  may  not,  that  they  never  know 

48 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

what  is  going  to  happen  in  your  prayer  meet- 
ing or  what  is  coming  next,  they  will  have  paid 
you  a  compliment  of  the  very  highest  order. 

41.  It  is  possible  for  the  leader  to  talk  the 
prayer  meeting  to  death.  In  fact,  that  has 
been  done  all  too  many  times  already.  The 
truth  is  that  the  large  per  cent  of  us  preach- 
ers are  of  such  ordinary  caliber  that  when  the 
people  hear  us  preach  twice  upon  Sunday  they 
are  content  and  do  not  care  to  hear  us  upon 
the  prayer  meeting  occasion;  and  we  our- 
selves should  not  give  any  place  to  vanity,  for 
if  we  cannot  pack  our  churches  upon  Sunday, 
how  can  we  expect  to  do  so  in  the  middle  of 
the  week?  The  prayer  meeting  is  the  people's 
service ;  it  provides  their  great  opportunity  for 
definite  ex^Dression  in  the  public  worship  of 
God.  The  leader  should  recognize  this  fact, 
and  more,  he  should  emphasize  it;  and  when 
he  exhorts  the  people  to  give  each  other  a 
chance  by  being  brief,  he  himself  ought  to  heed 
his  own  exhortation ;  and  this  not  only  in  ref- 
erence to  his  "talk,"  but  in  reference  to  his 
own  prayer  as  well. 

42.  Not  only  should  the  leader  observe 
brevity  in  the  personal  contribution  he  makes 
to  the  meeting,  he  should  also  avoid  the  bad 

49 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

habit  of  commenting  upon  every  testimony  and 
verse  of  song.  If  comment  be  opportune,  he 
should  give  it,  but  in  the  part  of  the  meeting 
when  others  are  invited  to  speak  he  should  be 
sure  to  cultivate,  for  a  part  of  the  time  at 
least,  the  fine  art  of  being  a  good  listener. 

43.  The  leader  should  not  only  provide  the 
opportunity  for  the  members  of  his  prayer- 
meeting  company  to  take  part,  he  should  also 
give  them  something  definite  to  do.  If  he  de- 
sires, he  may  find  many  tasks  to  assign.  For 
instance,  have  them  read  the  Scriptures  in 
unison  or  responsively,  or,  select  some  one  or 
more  to  do  it;  assign  questions  or  topics  re- 
lating to  the  theme  for  short  discussion;  re- 
quest the  company  to  bring  passages  of  Scrip- 
ture relating  to  an  announced  topic,  and  to 
bring  clippings  from  their  current  reading 
relating  to  the  same;  constitute  committees 
for  definite  tasks;  enlist  others  in  selecting 
hymns;  have  one  give  the  meaning  of  a  hymn, 
another  a  short  account  of  the  life  of  its  au- 
thor, another  the  story  of  its  writing,  and 
another  some  incident  connected  with  its  use ; 
invite  those  who  have  the  gift  of  song  to  ren- 
der special  music ;  when  slips  or  tracts  are  to 
be  distributed  have  others  do  it;  by  these  and 

50 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

other  methods  he  will  help  the  people  to  a 
larger  part  in  the  service. 

44.  Do  not  at  any  time  say,  "The  meeting 
is  yours,"  and  sit  down.  To  do  this  is  to 
surrender  the  meeting,  and  you  are  not  called 
upon,  nor  is  it  wise,  to  do  that.  The  company 
does  not  expect  or  desire  it.  Give  them  the 
privilege  of  prayer,  of  testimony,  or  of  taking 
part  in  any  way,  but  you  lead.  They  will 
carry  the  battle  better  if  you  do ;  and  besides, 
new  developments  may  demand  a  change  in 
the  plan  which  it  is  your  place  as  leader  to 
direct. 

45.  It  is  possible  for  the  prayer  meeting 
to  degenerate  into  a  service  of  another  order. 
For  instance,  the  missionary  prayer  meeting 
may  become  a  mission  study  class,  or  an  edu- 
cational prayer  meeting  may  become  a  forum 
for  the  discussion  of  educational  topics. 
Special  subjects  should  be  presented  in  the 
prayer  meeting  not  for  the  purpose  of  dis- 
seminating information  merely,  though  that 
is  of  great  importance,  but  for  disseminating 
information  with  a  view  to  prayer;  and  it 
is  the  duty  of  the  leader  to  see  that  this  pur- 
pose is  realized.  The  crown  of  the  prayer 
meeting  is   prayer,   and  it  should  never  be 

51 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PEAYER  MEETING 

crowded  out.  All  things  that  come  into  the 
service  should  minister  to  the  spirit  of  devo- 
tion. 

46.  Of  all  the  services  of  the  church  there 
is  none  that  partakes  of  the  family  character 
as  much  as  this;  hence  the  wise  leader  will 
emphasize  the  "at  home"  characteristics  of  the 
meeting.  If  the  room  is  large  and  the  com- 
pany small,  have  the  people  sit  close  together ; 
if  there  is  a  pulpit,  don't  climb  into  it;  be 
conversational  in  style;  talk  to  people  by 
name;  pray  for  the  sick  and  bereft  by  name; 
talk  church  family  affairs;  do  not  smother 
emotion,  tears  of  penitence  or  of  gladness,  holy 
laughter,  and  shouts  of  joy  have  their  place 
in  the  Christian's  life — we  were  made  to  feel 
as  well  as  to  think;  be  glad  when  some  one 
out  of  the  exuberance  of  his  heart  or  out  of 
the  need  of  his  life  speaks  or  prays  more  than 
once ;  have  a  warm  heart  for  the  stranger ;  and 
diffuse  through  the  service  that  benign  spirit 
of  homelikeness  which  has  no  place  for  stiff- 
ness or  formality,  but  makes  possible  richest 
friendships  and  most  glorious  fellowship. 

47.  The  prayer  meeting  company  gathers  to 
commune  with  God.  Give  him  right  of  way. 
Seek  only  his  will.  Exalt  Jesus  his  Son.  Exalt 

52 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Comforter  whom  he  has 
sent.  Exalt  the  Word  of  God,  which  is  his 
revelation.  Without  God  your  prayer  meeting- 
may  have  form ;  but  only  with  him  can  it  have 
life  and  power.  And  you  can  have  him.  You 
may  lack  numbers.  You  may  lack  conve- 
niences. Y'our  church  may  be  at  a  low  tide  spir- 
itually. But,  "Where  two  or  three  are  gathered 
together  in  my  name,  there  am  I  in  the  midst 
of  them."  Y^'ou  have  the  two  or  three?  Very 
well.  He  is  with  you.  Love  him.  Magnify 
him.  Exalt  him.  You  will  find  rest  for  your 
tired  bodies,  peace  for  your  troubled  minds, 
and  comfort  for  your  sorrowing  souls;  with 
him  you  will  forget  things  and  circumstances 
that  otherwise  would  disquiet  and  annoy ;  you 
will  lose  tlie  depressing  note;  with  him  you 
will  have  cheer  and  joy,  you  will  have  triumph 
and  glory. 

48.  When  the  prayer  meeting,  by  reason  of 
unsaved  persons  in  it,  provides  opportunity 
to  invite  souls  to  Jesus,  the  leader  should  make 
use  of  it.  The  unsaved  who  come  to  such  a 
meeting  are,  no  doubt,  in  sympathy  with  it. 
They  have  respect  for  religion,  and  possibly 
would  like  to  know  the  Saviour.  If  they  con- 
tinue to  come  they  will  most  surely,  sooner 

53 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PEAYER  MEETING 

or  later,  form  an  acquaintance  with  him. 
Happy  is  that  leader  and  company  who  do  not 
wait  for  the  annual  revival  to  win  such  for 
the  Master.  Provide  opportunity  for  requests 
for  prayer,  and  when  they  are  made,  follow 
them  up.  Be  bold  for  the  Lord.  Invite  such 
as  respond,  and  any  others  who  will,  to  come 
forward  and  definitely  surrender  to  God  at 
once.  Let  the  company  understand  that  in 
this  as  in  all  other  services  of  the  church  they 
are  at  liberty  to  go  through  the  congregation 
and  personally  invite  their  unsaved  friends  to 
come  to  the  Lord.  Embarrass  no  one,  saint 
or  sinner.  "VMien  the  seeker  comes  forward 
let  the  company  gather  about  him  and  by  their 
sympathy  and  prayers  help  his  faith.  He  is 
a  prodigal  on  the  way  home.  Lead  him  to 
break  with  sin  definitely  and  unrevokably,  to 
surrender  to  Jesus  completely,  and  to  trust 
him  for  salvation  fully.  Coming  so  he  will 
,find  the  heavenly  Father's  pardon,  he  will  find 
himself  "a  new  creature";  glory  will  fill  his 
soul  and  shine  in  his  face.  Then  rejoice  to- 
gether, and  give  praise  to  God,  for  it  can  be 
said  of  him  as  it  was  concerning  one  of  old, 
he  "was  dead,  and  is  alive  again ;  he  was  lost, 
and  is  found." 

54 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LEADER 

49.  Hold  one  hour.  Many  will  be  willing 
to  spend  an  hour  who  would  be  unwilling,  and 
perhaps  would  find  it  impossible,  to  spend  two. 

50.  Close  on  time.  God  does.  Sunsets 
never  drag.  Some  may  quietly  object,  but  no 
matter.  The  days  are  too  short  for  some  dear 
people.  Others  will  feel  that  it  is  almost 
wicked  to  close  when  there  are  so  many  to 
take  part  and  the  meeting  has  so  fine  a  swing. 
The  leader  should  close  on  time  nevertheless. 
The  reason  is  obvious.  Under  this  plan  the 
business  man  knows  he  can  make  after  prayer 
m-ceting  engagements  and  be  sure  he  can  ful- 
fill them  without  the  embarrassment  of  leaving 
while  the  service  is  in  progress ;  school  teach- 
ers and  school  children  know  they  will  have 
an  after  prayer  meeting  opportunity  to  com- 
plete their  preparation  for  the  next  day's 
work ;  and  the  mother  with  children  she  cannot 
bring,  knowing  definitely  when  she  can  return, 
can  make  arrangement  for  their  care  during 
the  hour.  It  is  no  use  to  exclaim  that  it  is 
the  duty  of  business  men,  school  teachers  and 
pupils,  mothers  and  everyone  else  to  go  to 
prayer  meeting  regardless  of  business,  school, 
home,  or  other  affairs.  Perhaps  it  is ;  perhaps 
it  is  not.     That  depends.     The  plain  fact  is 

55 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PKAYER  MEETING 

that  a  service  mth  an  uncertain  end,  which 
stands  more  chance  of  being  long-drawn-out 
than  otherwise,  cannot  be  a  big  service,  that 
is,  in  numbers,  permanently.  The  crowd  may 
be  caught  for  one  meeting,  but  not  fifty-two 
times  a  year.  It  is  better  far  to  have  a  rule, 
work  to  it,  and  have  a  large  company,  than 
to  work  haphazard  and  have  the  few  who  find 
it  satisfactory  to  follow  such  a  plan.  More- 
over, the  prayer  meeting  that  closes  with  per- 
sons ready  and  eager  to  take  part  is  one  whose 
reserve  force  and  unused  jDOwer  exhilarate  and 
promise  good. 

51.  There  should  be  but  one  exception  to 
the  above  rule,  and  that  is  when  the  time  for 
closing  arrives  and  finds  a  seeker  for  salvation 
who  is  minded  to  continue.  Then  simply  an- 
nounce that  if  any  must  go  they  may  do  so 
without  offense.  With  this  word  those  who 
go  will  do  so  freely,  while  those  who  stay  will 
do  so  by  choice.  Stay  by  the  battle  joyfully, 
thanking  God  for  a  seeker,  and  for  one  who 
is  minded  to  seek  till  he  finds.  Let  the  meeting 
lengthen — into  hours  if  need  be — God  once 
lengthened  a  day  that  a  battle  might  be  won. 
When  victory  comes  your  joy  and  God's  will 
be  of  kin. 

56 


CHAPTER  III 
THE  PRAYER  MEETING  ROOM 


Paragraph 

52. 

Accessibility. 

53. 

Cleanliness. 

54. 

Tidiness. 

55. 

Rearrangement  of  furniture. 

56. 

Illumination. 

57. 

Temperature. 

58. 

"Ventilation. 

59. 

Flowers. 

60. 

Effect. 

CHAPTER  III 

The  Prayer  Meeting  Room 

"The  place  whereon  thou  standest  is  holy.'' 
— Joshua  5.  15. 

52.  The  place  where  the  prayer  meeting  is 
held  is  of  large  import;  albeit  some  congrega- 
tions, judging  by  the  place  they  assign  it,  do 
not  seem  to  think  so.  There  is  some  truth, 
but  not  all,  in  the  statement  that  "If  the  heart 
is  right  one  will  go  to  prayer  meeting  any- 
where." The  Christians  of  Diocletian's  time 
went  joyfully  to  the  catacombs  for  prayer, 
and  vast  multitudes  to-day,  if  placed  under 
like  conditions,  would  do  the  same;  but  why 
should  we  seek  the  obscure  place  in  this  age? 
We  are  not  the  subjects  of  persecution.  Neces- 
sity does  not  compel  us  to  hide  our  prayer 
meeting.  To  tuck  this  service  in  an  out-of-the- 
way  place  is  to  act  out  of  harmony  with  the 
day  in  which  we  live.  The  prayer  meeting 
room  should  be  easily  accessible. 

53.  The  room  should  be  clean.  And  why 
not?    Ours  is  a  clean  gospel.    It  makes  clean 

=  59 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

folks.  And  a  clean  gospel  and  clean  folks 
are  worthy  of  a  clean  place.  A  dirty  room 
means  discord;  it  is  out  of  harmony  with  the 
spirit  of  the  prayer  meeting;  and,  if  counte- 
nanced, will  help  kill  the  meeting.  The  floor 
should  be  swept;  the  seats  should  be  dusted; 
and  cobwebs  should  have  no  place  on  the  wall. 
Cleanliness  is  one  of  those  fine  blessings, 
which,  if  men  will  but  pay  the  price  may  be 
had  anywhere. 

54,  The  clean  room  may  have  its  furnish- 
ings in  a  jumble.  This  should  not  be.  It 
should  be  tidy.  We  are  often  told  that  "Order 
is  heaven's  first  law";  be  that  as  it  may,  it 
should  be  one  of  the  laws  of  the  place  of 
prayer.  The  chairs,  tables,  and  other  furni- 
ture should  be  in  place;  the  blackboard,  if 
movable,  and  the  pictures  upon  the  wall 
should  hang  straight,  and  the  books  should 
be  in  the  racks.  Anything  that  interferes 
with  the  sense  of  tidiness  should  be  removed. 

55.  It  is  not  essential  to  tidiness  that  the 
furniture  of  the  room  always  be  in  the  same 
place.  Indeed,  tidiness  can  be  maintained 
Avhile  a  sense  of  newness  and  freshness  may 
be  obtained  by  occasionally  rearranging  the 
furniture  if  this  be  possible.     Move  the  desk 

60 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  ROOM 

to  the  other  end  or  to  one  of  the  sides  of  the 
room.  Shift  the  chairs  accordingly.  Move  the 
organ.  Rearrange  the  chairs  so  that  sections 
and  aisles  will  be  different.  Those  who  enter 
the  room  will  be  pleased  in  the  same  way  one 
is  pleased  who  enters  the  home  of  a  house- 
keeper who  knows  and  practices  this  fine  art. 
The  rearrangement  of  the  furniture  alone  will 
give  variety  to  the  meeting  for  a  time. 

56.  The  prayer  meeting  room  should  be  well 
lighted.  One  may  hardly  expect  a  bright 
cheerful  prayer  meeting  to  thrive  in  a  half- 
lighted  room.  Darkness  depresses  both  men 
and  meetings;  light  uplifts  both.  The  tint  of 
the  wall  has  much  to  do  with  the  lighting 
effect.  The  passages  leading  to  the  place  of 
meeting,  whether  entry,  hall,  or  connecting 
rooms,  should  also  be  well  lighted.  Prayer 
meeting  attendants  should  not  be  compelled 
to  grope  through  a  tunnel  of  dark  to  find  the 
place  of  prayer. 

57.  See  to  it  that  the  room  is  warm  in  cold 
weather.  Building  the  fire  thirty  minutes  be- 
fore the  service  usually  means  a  failure  for 
that  evening.  The  early  fire  means  a  larger 
fuel  bill,  but  it  is  worth  all  it  costs.    In  warm 

weather  have  a  fan  for  everybody. 

61 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

58.  Look  to  the  ventilation.  Prayer  meet- 
ings may  be  smothered  by  fonl  air;  besides, 
there  is  fresh  air  a-plenty  in  God's  out-of- 
doors,  and  you  sin  against  him  and  the  meet- 
ing if  you  do  not  use  it. 

59.  A  bouquet  of  flowers  upon  the  stand 
always  blesses. 

60.  When  the  prayer  meeting  attendant 
steps  from  the  outside  into  a  clean,  tidy,  well- 
lighted,  comfortable,  and,  consequently,  a 
homelike  place,  that  sense  of  quiet  restfulness 
so  necessary  to  intimate  communion  with  God 
steals  over  his  soul,  and  the  meeting  for  that 
evening  is  already  on  the  way  to  victory. 


62 


CHAPTER  IV 
ADVERTISING  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 


Paragkaph 

61. 

It  is  wise 

;  to  advertise. 

62. 

Character 

•  of  prayer  meeting  advertising. 

63-74. 

Methods. 

63. 

The  pulpit. 

64. 

Church   bulletin. 

65-67. 

Blackboard. 
65,  66.     Inside. 
67.    Outside. 

68. 

Local  papers. 

69,  70. 

Letters  by  leader. 

69.  Circular. 

70.  Special. 

71,  72. 

Invitation  by  company. 

71.  Personal. 

72.  Phone  and  letter. 

73. 

Tracts. 

74. 

Illuminated   sign. 

75.     The  meeting  itself  an  advertisement. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Advertising  The  Prayer  Meeting 

"Go  home  to  thy  friends^  and  tell  them." — 
Mark  5.  19. 

61.  If  it  is  a  good  thing  to  advertise  soaps 
and  silks,  meats  and  medicines,  hats  and 
houses,  why  is  it  not  a  good  thing  to  advertise 
the  prayer  meeting?  There  is  but  one  answer 
to  this  question,  for  the  aphorism,  "Adver- 
tising pays,"  is  true  not  only  in  the  material 
but  also  in  the  spiritual  realm.  Those  who 
are  fearful  that  if  the  church  takes  up  with 
the  ways  of  the  world  she  will  lower  her 
spiritual  life  and  lose  her  power  should  re- 
member that  every  right  thing  is  subject  to 
legitimate  use  by  God's  people.  Advertising 
is  right.  True,  the  devil  has  taken  hold  of  it 
and  has  used  it  with  great  profit  to  himself. 
His  astuteness  commands  praise ;  his  zeal  com- 
mendation. Nor  should  his  remarkable  suc- 
cess in  the  matter  make  God's  people  loath 
to  attempt  it;  it  should  rather  incite  them 
not  only  to  attempt  but  to  such  persistent 

65 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

endeavor  as  ends  only  in  accomplishment. 
Advertising  pays.  Good  people  as  well  as  bad 
should  make  use  of  it. 

62,  Prayer-meeting  advertising  cannot,  nor 
is  it  desired  that  it  should,  take  on  the  spec- 
tacular flaming-poster,  ring-the-bell  brass-band 
features  ofttimes  made  use  of  elsewhere;  but 
there  is  a  field  for  sane,  forceful,  and  persist- 
ent advertising,  legitimate  for  this  service,  as 
the  following  paragraphs  show,  which,  if  culti- 
vated, will  enlist  not  only  the  people's  interest 
in  but  their  attendance  upon  this  means  of 
grace  in  increasing  numbers. 

63.  First  of  all,  the  pulpit  should  exalt  this 
service.  The  pastor  should  not  consume  time 
which  should  be  given  to  other  parts  of  the 
Sunday  service  in  an  extended  exhortation 
relative  to  the  prayer  meeting;  there  is  no 
need  for  that,  and  besides,  the  people  would 
tire  of  it.  What  he  says  and  how  are  of  more 
importance  than  the  length.  Let  him  in  a 
few  sentences  lay  the  matter  upon  the  people's 
hearts  not  merely  once  in  six  months  or  a  year, 
but  frequently.  Let  him  mention  some  special 
feature  of  the  last  meeting;  some  special  fea- 
ture promised  for  the  next;  call  attention 
to  the  increasing  interest  and  growth;  invite 

66 


ADVEETISING  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

the  fathers  and  mothers  to  bring  their  chil- 
dren; in  short,  let  him  enthusiastically  urge 
the  privilege  the  midweek  service  aifords  the 
whole  church.  It  is  wise  for  him,  occasionally, 
to  provide  an  opportunity  for  the  people  to 
definitely  commit  themselves  to  prayer-meet- 
ing attendance.  To  this  end  he  will  find  it 
advantageous  to  distribute  slips  through  the 
Sunday  congregation  about  a  month  before 
the  revival  with  the  request  that  all,  whether 
they  have  been  accustomed  to  attend  the 
prayer  meeting  or  not,  who  will  agree  to  do 
so  between  that  time  and  the  revival,  unless 
they  have  some  reason  they  believe  God  would 
accept,  sign  their  names  and  drop  the  slip  in 
the  basket  when  the  regular  offering  is  taken. 
Two  things  unite  to  make  signing  easy:  (1) 
The  time  covered  by  the  pledge  is  compara- 
tively short.  Many  will  sign  for  a  month  who 
would  not  do  so  for  a  year.  (2)  The  weeks 
before  the  revival  are  preparation  weeks.  The 
people  then  are  asking,  "What  can  I  do?"  as 
they  too  seldom  do  at  other  times.  The  pass- 
ing of  slips  for  their  signature  provides,  at 
least  in  part,  an  answer  to  their  inquiry  which 
many  unaccustomed  to  attend  the  prayer 
meeting  will  be  glad  to  improve. 

67 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

64.  If  a  church  bulletin  is  published,  a  para- 
graph each  week  concerning  the  privilege,  the 
worth,  and  the  progress  of  the  meeting  to- 
gether with  promised  special  features  will  be 
helpful, 

65.  Place  a  blackboard  in  a  conspicuous 
place  where  all  who  attend  the  Sunday  service 
can  see  it  and  place  a  telling  paragraph  rela- 
tive to  the  prayer  meeting  upon  it.  In  all 
such  paragraphs,  as  elsewhere,  avoid  a  com- 
plaining or  discouraging  note.  Jeremiads  do 
not  attract.  There  is  enough  of  victory  in 
every  prayer  meeting  to  make  a  paragraph. 
Use  it,  and  by  it  climb  to  greater  victory. 
Occasionally,  emphasize  the  paragraph  by 
calling  attention  to  it ;  but  usually  let  it  speak 
for  itself. 

66.  The  following  paragraphs,  which  were 
copied  from  the  record  of  the  pastor  who  used 
them  to  help  build  up  his  prayer  meeting, 
illustrate  this  kind  of  advertising : 

Fifty-three  were  at  prayer  meeting  last  night.     Can 
you  not  come  next  Thursday  evening?    Eight  to  nine. 

Twenty-eight   persons    and    a    glorious   rain.      How's 
that  for  our  last  week's  prayer  meeting?     Good! 

Special  music  at  our  prayer  meeting  next  Thursday 
68 


ADVERTISING  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

evening.  Come  early  and  bring  a  friend.  Eight  to 
nine. 

A  little  over  a  year  later  in  this  same  prayer 
meeting  the  following  were  used  in  three  con- 
secutive weeks : 

If  one  hundred  and  fourteen  come  to  prayer  meeting 
next  Thursday  evening  our  average  for  the  month  of 
September  will  be  one  hundred,  and  this  will  be  a  record 
average  for  this  church.     Of  course  you  want  it  to  be. 

Last  Thursday  evening  was  rainy  and  disagreeable, 
but  sixty-five  persons  came  to  prayer  meeting.  Let 
everybody  praise  the  Lord. 

Somebody  brought  a  bouquet  of  flowers  to  prayer 
meeting  last  Thursday  evening.  One  hundred  and 
thirty-six  persons  were  there  to  share  their  beauty.  It 
was  a  happy  hour.     Thursday,  7:30  p.  m. 

67.  A  blackboard  outside  the  church  Avith  a 
w^ritten  invitation  upon  it  during  the  day  pre- 
ceding the  prayer  meeting  hour  will  remind 
many  who  pass  by  of  this  service. 

68.  If  the  pastor  makes  use  of  the  privilege 
of  publishing  his  sermon  subjects  and  other 
notes  in  the  daily  or  weekly  paper,  the  inser- 
tion of  paragraphs  such  as  the  above  will 
place  the  whole  community  in  touch  with  his 
midweek  service. 

69.  A  circular  letter  from  the  leader  sent  by 

69 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

mail  cannot  fail  to  be  productive  of  good.  By 
this  plan  persons  who  may  not  have  received  a 
personal  invitation  by  word  of  mouth  are  not 
passed  by — the  last  man  and  woman  is 
reached.  They  know  they  are  remembered; 
and,  if  they  have  begun  to  have  that  "outsider" 
feeling,  it  is  quickly  dispelled.  The  church  is 
theirs.  They  are  recognized.  Furthermore, 
they  are  counted.  More  than  that,  they  are 
wanted.  The  fact  that  printing  and  postage 
cost  something  may  deter  some  from  using  this 
form  of  advertising ;  but  that  very  element  en- 
hances its  value  in  the  eyes  of  the  recipient. 
Invitations  that  cost,  like  everything  else, 
mean  more  because  of  that  very  fact.  No 
rules  can  be  given  for  the  writing  of  the  circu- 
lar letter,  each  occasion  making  demands  of  its 
own,  both  as  to  form  and  content ;  but  it  may 
safely  be  said  that  the  leader  w^ho  writes  in 
love  will  observe  every  necessary  propriety, 
and,  while  he  quickens  interest  in  his  midweek 
service,  will  also  minister  comfort  and  blessing 
to  his  people. 

70.  A  special  letter  to  the  ofiflcers  of  the 
church  will  lay  their  duty  and  privilege  as  re- 
gards the  prayer  meeting  more  definitely  upon 
their  hearts  by  accentuating  the  fact  that  they 

70 


ADVERTISING  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

as  well  as  the  pastor  are  set  for  leadership  in 
the  spiritual  as  well  as  in  the  temporal  things 
of  the  church. 

71.  The  fine  art  of  personal  invitation  should 
be  cultivated.  In  his  work  of  visitation  the 
pastor  should  lay  the  prayer  meeting  upon  the 
hearts  of  his  people.  To  talk  to  them  in  the 
crowd  may  be  to  miss  some  of  them;  to  talk 
to  them  personally  in  their  homes  and  stores, 
in  their  shops,  out  in  their  fields,  and  upon  the 
street  is  to  make  each  feel,  "He  means  me." 
The  leader,  however,  should  not  monopolize 
the  work  of  personal  invitation.  That  is  a 
privilege  large  enough  for  all;  and  the  com- 
pany should  be  encouraged  to  share  it.  Re- 
mind them  that  the  service  is  not  only  for 
those  who  come,  but  also  for  the  multitudes 
outside  who  are  kept  away  by  indifference, 
and,  perhaps,  by  lack  of  appreciation  of  the 
worth  of  the  service ;  urge  them  to  go  to  such, 
and,  as  they  have  opportunity,  talk  with  them 
about  the  meeting.  Occasionally,  and  prefer- 
ably when  some  special  feature  is  to  be  pre- 
sented, definitely  pledge  them  to  invite  at  least 
one  other  person  to  come  to  the  next  meeting. 
Provide  the  workers  with  an  easy  starting 

point  for  their  invitations  by  reporting  at  each 

71 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

service  the  number  present.  When  new  records 
are  made,  say  so.  There  is  something  compel- 
ling about  growing  things,  and  the  prayer 
meeting  is  no  exception.  It  is  surprising  how 
soon  the  people  outside  hear  of  the  new  records 
you  make.  Urge  the  company  not  to  be  content 
with  merely  reporting  attendance,  but  to  carry 
some  of  the  service  to  their  friends ;  for,  if  they 
will  not  come  to  the  meeting,  it  is  only  proper 
that  the  meeting  should  be  carried  to  them. 
Thus  the  nonatteudant  will  hear  of  the  service, 
its  testimonies,  something  of  its  message,  or  its 
special  feature,  and  will  catch  some  of  its 
spirit;  while  there  will  be  opened  up  to  the 
bearer  of  the  invitation  opportunity  for  con- 
versation upon  the  deeper  things  of  the  soul, 
which  are  so  full  of  interest  to  prayer  meeting 
lovers.  These  invitations  should  not  be  con- 
fined to  the  saved  alone;  they  should  be  car- 
ried to  the  unsaved  as  well.  Indeed,  the  un- 
saved should  not  only  be  invited,  but  members 
of  the  prayer  meeting  company  should,  as  the 
way  opens,  bring  them  to  the  meeting  with  the 
hope  that  they  shall  there  decide  for  Jesus. 
Encourage  your  people  to  let  you  know  of  the 
intended  coming  of  a  possible  seeker.  Y^ou 
will  be  enabled  to  shape  the  meeting  for  his 

72 


ADVERTISING  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

helping  all  the  more  wisely.  Invitations  thus 
extended  bring  threefold  blessing:  (1)  They 
extend  the  influence  of  the  prayer  service  by 
carrying  it  to  those  outside.  (2)  They  who 
carry  the  invitation  are  helped.  And  (3)  the 
prayer  meeting  itself  is  built  up.  "Behold  how 
great  a  matter  a  little  fire  kindleth"  is  true 
when  the  "little  fire"  is  in  the  prayer  meeting 
personal  worker's  heart. 

72.  Urge  your  people,  if  at  any  time  they 
cannot  give  themselves  to  this  beautiful  min- 
istry in  person,  to  avail  themselves  of  the  op- 
portunity provided  by  the  telephone  and  the 
personal  letter. 

73.  Tracts,  wisely  distributed,  will  interest 
many  in  this  service.  (For  list  of  tracts,  see 
Appendix  C.) 

74.  At  the  hour  of  service  illuminated 
signs,  of  the  sort  often  used  by  fraternities  to 
call  attention  to  their  evening  meetings,  placed 
^t  the  entrances  of  those  churches  whose  loca- 
tion provides  opportunity  for  their  advan- 
tageous use,  would  call  many  a  heart  to  share 
the  fellowship  of  the  prayer  meeting  hour. 

75.  If  the  leader  and  his  company  keep  the 
meeting  before  the  people  in  an  attractive  way, 
as  they  may,  the  people  will  come;  it  is  then 

73 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

their  duty,  yes,  their  privilege,  to  make  the 
meeting  such  that  they  will  want  to  come 
again.  Outside  advertising  will  bring  a  person 
once ;  but,  after  that,  for  that  person,  the  meet- 
ing itself  is  the  best  advertisement. 


74 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  OPENING  EXERCISE 


Paragraph 

76.     The  opening  affects  the  service. 
77,    78.     Usual  method. 

77.  Usual  method,  why  so. 

78.  An  abuse  of  it. 

79.  Testimony. 

80.  Prayer. 

81.  The  Holy  Scriptures. 

82.  Questions. 

83.  Praise  in  unison. 

84.  Expression  of  appreciation. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  Opening  Exercise 

'^In  the  beginning  God." — Genesis  1.  1. 

76.  The  character  of  the  opening  exercises, 
both  as  to  matter  and  method,  determines  in 
some  measure  the  character  and  power  of  the 
service;  for  the  simple  reason  that  first  im- 
pressions of  meetings,  as  of  men,  affect  us 
favorably  or  unfavorably.  If  the  opening  is 
slow,  cold,  without  change  and  life,  it  is  need- 
less to  say  that  those  who  share  it  will  be  de- 
pressed, and  since  the  feeling  of  depression  is 
fatal  to  the  spirit  of  devotion,  it  must  be  over- 
come before  the  meeting  can  come  to  a  victory 
sweep;  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  opening  is 
characterized  by  promptness  and  warmth, 
variety  and  life,  its  effect  is  electrical,  it 
places  everyone  on  the  alert,  and  the  service 
at  once  promises  triumph. 

77.  Practically  all  the  services  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  begin  with  singing.  The  prayer 
meeting  is  no  exception.  It  seems  to  be  the 
easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  say,  "Let  us  begin 

77 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

the  services  this  evening  by  singing  number 
— ."  The  form  is  stereotyped.  Before  the 
people  start  from  home  they  know  just  how 
the  meeting  will  begin.  They  do  not  complain 
about  it.  It  is  a  good  way;  and  because  sing- 
ing, by  its  power  to  enlist  attention,  please, 
and  inspire,,  is  admirably  suited  for  the  open- 
ing moments  of  a  meeting,  it  is  more  than 
j)robable  that  it  Tvdll  continue  to  hold  its  pre- 
eminence in  this  particular.  We  believe  it 
should  do  so. 

78.  To  sing  three  or  four  hymns  "while  the 
people  are  gathering"  and  then  to  say,  "Let  us 
open  the  meeting  by  singing  number  — "  is  to 
blunder  without  excuse ;  for  the  simple  reason 
that  to  do  so  is  to  compliment  the  tardy  ones,  a 
thing  that  should  not  be  done  for  two  reasons : 
Those  who  are  late  of  necessity  do  not  ask  it, 
and  those  late  through  carelessness  do  not 
merit  it.  When  you  begin  with  singing  let  the 
first  hymn  you  sing  bear  the  honor  of  being  the 
"opening  hymn." 

79.  The  psalmist  who  said,  "Sing  unto  him," 
also  said  in  the  same  breath,  "Talk  ye  of  all  his 
wondrous  works."  Leave  off  singing  once  in  a 
while,  then,  and  begin  with  testimony.  The 
reports  of  tasks  attempted  and  accomplished, 

78 


THE  OPENING  EXERCISE 

of  discouragements  encountered  and  van- 
quished, of  battles  waged  and  won,  of  sins  con- 
fessed and  forgiven,  with  the  notes  of  trust 
and  hope,  of  love  and  of  praise  throbbing 
through  all,  will  open  the  meeting  with  bless- 
ing for  every  heart. 

80.  When  the  moment  for  the  service  to  be- 
gin arrives  let  the  leader  without  preliminary 
remarks  of  any  kind  say,  "Let  us  pray,"  and 
lead  the  company  at  once  to  the  Throne  of 
Grace.  Or  let  him  call  upon  some  member  to 
pray.  He  may  have  a  season  of  silent  prayer ; 
or  have  several  sentence  prayers;  again,  he 
may  have  the  company  stand  while  he  himself 
or  some  one  else  whom  he  may  name  offers  an 
invocation  for  the  blessing  of  God  upon  the 
service. 

81.  Use  a  responsive  Scripture  lesson.     The 

Psalms    lend   themselves    admirably    to    this 

service.    If  for  any  reason  the  Bibles  are  not 

in  the  racks  do  not  use  this  exercise.     The 

meeting  must  not  start  out  with  a  sense  of  un- 

preparedness ;  the  initial  moments  must  not 

be  vitiated  by  hunting  and  distributing  even 

the  Book  of  books.     Or,  better  still,  have  the 

company  memorize  appropriate  passages  of 

Scripture,  such  as  the  "Shepherd"  psalm,  the 

79 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

twenty-third,  or  the  "I  was  glad"  psalm,  the 
one  hundrel  and  twenty-second,  and,  as  de- 
sired, repeat  one  of  them  for  the  opening  exer- 
cise. Or  if  the  leader  desires  he  may  read  a 
verse  or  two  of  Scripture,  pertinent  to  the  oc- 
casion, and  enforce  the  same  with  a  few  telling 
sentences. 

82.  Open  with  one  or  more  questions,  such 
as  "Did  you  have  a  temptation  to  stay 
away  to-night?"  "How  did  you  overcome 
it?"  "Who  helped  you  to  come  to  prayer 
meeting  to-night?"  "Why  are  you  here  to- 
night?" "How  can  we  help  make  this  a  good 
meeting?"  "Will  it  spoil  this  meeting  if  a  half 
dozen  should  arise  at  the  same  time  to  speak 
in  the  testimony  service?"  "If  more  than  one 
arises  to  speak  at  the  same  time  what  should 
those  w^ho  do  not  speak  first  do?"  "Should 
Christians  look  over  the  room  while  some  one 
is  praying?"  or  any  other.  Let  the  answers  be 
informal,  and,  if  a  member  interjects  a  ques- 
tion, rejoice,  for  in  the  warmth  of  free  and 
open  discussion  coldness  and  formality  soon 
melt  away,  while,  at  the  same  time,  there 
come  higher  conceptions  of  privilege  and 
duty. 

83,  An  informal  opening  of  great  interest 

80 


THE  OPENING  EXERCISE 

and  value  may  be  gathered  from  the  drift  of 
events  in  the  community.  Every  community 
sooner  or  later  has  its  periods  of  stress — long 
oppressive  periods  of  heat  or  cold,  times  of 
drought  or  flood,  crop  failures,  epidemics  of 
disease,  etc., — these  tell  upon  the  prayer  meet- 
ing by  diverting  the  attention  and  lowering  the 
attendance.  But  cold  gives  way  to  heat;  heat 
to  cold.  The  drought  is  broken.  The  flood 
subsides.  Harvests  ripen  and  epidemics  abate. 
Here  is  the  leader's  opportunity.  When  he 
stands  before  those  who  have  come  with  him 
to  join  in  the  service  of  prayer  let  him,  if  it 
should  be  after  a  long  period  of  oppressive 
heat,  say,  "Everybody  who  is  glad  for  this  fine 
cool  day,  say  Traise  the  Lord.' "  Of  course 
everybody  responds;  and  he  will  see  in  the 
beaming  faces  of  the  company  an  illustration 
of  the  fact  that  it  is  good  for  people  to  say  with 
their  lips  what  they  feel  in  their  hearts.  The 
leader  will,  of  course,  vary  the  reasons  for 
praise  according  to  the  occasion :  everybody 
who  is  glad  for  warmer  days,  for  the  rain,  for 
the  sunshine,  for  the  harvest,  for  good  health, 
for  a  quiet  hour,  etc.,  praise  the  Lord. 

84.  Give  the  opening  moments  of  the  meeting 
to  the  expression  of  appreciation  for  some 

81 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

service  rendered  the  company.  For  instance, 
if  somebody  brings  a  bouquet  of  flowers,  call 
attention  to  the  blossoms  and  remind  the  com- 
pany that  if  any  of  them  have  come  to  the 
meeting  possessed  with  the  blues  they  may 
look  at  God's  flowers  and  be  glad.-  And  they 
will.  Meanwhile  the  saint  who  brought  them 
will  be  receiving  that  particular  blessing 
which  belongs  to  those  who  give  ciips  of  cold 
water  and  render  other  like  service  in  Jesus's 
name,  and  other  bouquets  will  likely  follow  to 
bless  your  midweek  service  of  prayer.  When 
any  object  to  adorn  the  room  or  make  for  its 
comfort  is  provided  it  affords  an  opportunity 
for  this  delightful  opening. 


82 


CHAPTER  VI 
PRAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 


Paeagraph 

85.    A  service  for  prayer. 
86,  87.     The  attitude  in  prayer. 

88.  Voluntary. 

89.  Danger    of    voluntary    method,    and    how    to 

meet:  (1)  by  sections,  (2)  by  request  for 
silence,  (3)  by  sexes,  (4)  by  ages,  (5)  by 
school  company,  (6)  by  members  of  young 
people's  society,  (7)  by  Sunday  school 
teachers,  and  (8)  by  new  converts. 
90-94.     To  get  new  voices  to  pray. 

90.  A  privilege. 

91.  Encouragement. 

92.  Written  prayers. 

93.  Pledge. 

94.  Home    practice. 

95.  Length  of  prayers. 

96.  Exception  to  rule. 

97.  Methods  to  secure  brevity:    (1)  by  the  clock, 

(2)  by  appeal  to  courtesy,  (3)  by  persua- 
sion, (4)  by  appeal  to  example,  (5)  by 
appeal  to  honesty,  (6)  by  provision,  and 
(7)  by  command. 

98.  A  suggestion. 

99.  Prayer  for  special  things. 
100,  101.     Concert  prayer. 

100.  Memory. 

101.  Prayer  psalm. 

102.  Silent  prayer. 

103.  Requests  for  prayer. 

104.  Altar  service. 
105,  106.     Sentence  prayers. 

107.     Acknowledgment  of  answers  to  prayers. 
108-110.     The   study  of  prayer. 

108.  The  subject  in  general. 

109.  Bible  prayers. 

110.  Prayers  of  others. 


CHAPTER  VI 

Prayer  in  the  Prayer  Meeting 

"Lord,  teach  us  to  pray" — Luke  11.  1. 

85.  The  prayer  meeting  is  called  for  the  pur- 
pose of  cultivating  the  fine  art  of  praying.  To 
open  the  meeting  with  prayer  and  then  to  run 
it  exclusively  in  other  channels  is  not  to  have 
a  prayer  meeting  at  all.  To  call  it  so  is  a 
misnomer.  Let  us  repeat,  the  prayer  meeting 
is  called  for  prayer.  Its  name,  prayer  meeting, 
indicates  as  much.  Other  things  may  be  lack- 
ing, but  this  should  not  be;  other  things  may 
and  should  enter  in,  but  only  as  handmaids  to 
this,  the  chief  thing.  Moreover  this  service  is 
called  for  mutual,  for  united  prayer.  Its 
name,  prayer  meeting,  indicates  this  also. 
The  people  understand  it  so.  When  they  come 
they  expect  to  have  a  chance  to  pray.  To  deny 
them  this  privilege  is  to  rob  them  of  their 
right.  The  leader  may  pray  long  prayers  in 
his  pulpit  on  Sunday,  but  when  he  gathers 
with  his  people  in  the  midweek  service  he 
should  become  in  a  very  real  way  one  of  them. 

85 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

He  will,  accordingly,  in  order  to  give  them 
their  right,  be  as  brief  in  prayer  as  he  expects 
them  to  be.  In  fact,  having  had  his  great  Sun- 
day opportunity,  he  will  do  well,  frequently, 
to  let  his  people  do  all  the  audible  praying  in 
this  service. 

86.  In  the  light  of  the  teaching  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures  relative  to  the  attitude  to  be  as- 
sumed during  prayer  it  is  useless  to  dogmatize. 
"Hezekiah  sick  unto  death"  upon  his  bed 
^'turned  his  face  toward  the  wall,  and  prayed" 
( Isa.  38.  1,  2 )  ;  "Then  went  king  David  in,  and 
sat  before  the  Lord"  and  prayed  (2  Sam.  7. 
18) ;  the  publican,  "standing  afar  off,"  offered 
his  plea  for  mercy  ( Luke  18.  13 ) ;  Paul  on  his 
way  to  Jerusalem  "kneeled  down  on  the  shore, 
and  prayed"  with  those  who  accompanied  him 
out  of  the  city  of  Tyre  (Acts  21.  5)  ;  and  Jesus 
in  Gethsemane  prostrated  himself  (Matt  26. 
39).  God  heard  all  of  these,  not  because  of 
any  virtue  in  the  attitude  of  body  taken,  but 
because  of  the  attitude  of  their  hearts. 
Standing  and  kneeling  are  the  attitudes  most 
generally  observed,  the  first  having  larger  ob- 
servance in  Scripture  times,  the  second  coming 
into  that  distinction  in  this  day,  being  not 
only  the  rule  in  all  the  services  of  some  de- 

86 


PRAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

nominations,  but  many  congregations  whose 
custom  it  is  to  stand  during  prayer  in  the 
Sunday  services  make  kneeling  the  rule  in 
their  midweek  service.  But  whatever  the  pos- 
ture the  company  is  in  the  habit  of  observing, 
it  is  well  that  the  rule  should  not  be  so  rigidly 
followed  as  to  render  impossible  that  contri- 
bution to  variety  the  use  of  other  attitudes 
will  make. 

87.  The  whole  company  should  be  encour- 
aged to  assume  the  same  attitude  during 
prayer ;  but  whatever  the  rule,  sitting,  because 
of  children  they  must  hold,  crowded  seats,  or 
physical  infirmity,  is  necessary  for  some. 
These,  when  the  attitude  is  such  that  they  can- 
not join  in  it,  should  be  made  to  feel  that,  when 
they  sit  Tvith  bowed  heads  and  pray,  they  are 
in  perfect  accord  with  the  meeting;  indeed,  it 
will  minister  comfort  to  them  to  have  the 
whole  company  join  them  in  their  attitude  at 
times.  On  the  other  hand,  the  leader  should 
discourage  the  irreverent  habit  of  sitting  up- 
right, with  wide-open  eyes,  when  men  and 
women  and  youth  are  talking  with  God. 

88.  Prayer  in  the  prayer  meeting  in  the  main 
should  be  voluntary.  If  the  leader  makes  it 
the  habit  to  call  upon  those  who  are  to  pray 

87 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PKAYER  MEETING 

there  will  be  a  tendency  to  call  upon  the  same 
ones  from  week  to  week,  for  the  reason  that  he 
will  not  always  be  sure  whether  certain  ones, 
especially  children  and  new  attendants,  will 
respond.  The  call  for  volunteers  opens  the 
way  for  everybody  alike;  and  the  responses 
from  young  and  old,  acquaintance  and  stran- 
ger, will,  as  they  ever  have  done,  by  their  unex- 
pected but  welcome  contribution,  quicken  the 
meeting  to  new  life. 

89.  We  should  not  forget  that  when  the 
meeting  is  mainly  voluntary  there  is  danger 
that  the  same  persons  occupy  the  time  week 
by  week  so  that  the  difficulty  which  this  form 
of  service  is  designed  to  avert  is  met  with  still. 
The  following  methods  provide  a  way  whereby 
the  meeting  may  be  kept  from  the  grasp  of  the 
willing  volunteer : 

(1)  Have  your  prayer  meeting  room  arranged  with 
aisles  between  sections  of  pews  or  chairs.  Have  a  sea- 
son of  prayer  by  volunteers  from  one  designated  sec- 
tion, and  then  from  another;  or,  if  preferable,  let 
volunteers  from  a  certain  number  of  pews,  front,  middle, 
or  rear,  lead  the  devotion.  Regular  attendants  usu- 
ally sit  in  the  same  places,  and  the  leader  by  using  or 
passing  sections  or  pews  can  so  determine  who  shall 
pray  as  that  no  two  successive  meetings  shall  fall  into 
the  hands  of  the  same  persons. 

(2)  At  the  beginning  of  the  service  ask  all  who  led 

88 


PRAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

In  audible  prayer  the  week  before  to  give  that  priv- 
ilege to  others  in  the  present  meeting,  while  they  take 
the  place  of  those  who  at  that  time  followed  in  silent 
prayer.  Some  may  forget,  but  enough  will  remember 
so  that  your  service  will  have  the  sense  of  newness  you 
seek. 

(3)  To  give  further  variety  have  a  season  of  prayer 
led  by  men  only.  Another  by  women  only.  These  two 
seasons  of  prayer  will  give  opportunity  for  all  the  ready 
volunteers,  of  course:  but  by  placing  the  obligation  for 
response  upon  the  smaller  group,  a  thing  always  desir- 
able because  it  is  more  personal,  they  remove  the  com- 
mon opportunity  which  makes  possible  so  much  same- 
ness. 

(4)  Of  the  same  sort  are  seasons  of  prayer  by  ages. 
Have  a  season  of  prayer  by  children  under  fifteen  years 
of  age;  another  by  young  people  from  sixteen  to  twenty- 
one;  and  another  by  all  others. 

(5)  Have  prayer  by  the  school  section  of  your  com- 
pany, the  teachers,  the  high  school  and  grade  pupils. 

(6)  Have  one  or  more  seasons  of  prayer  by  members 
of  your  young  people's  society  only. 

(7)  Call  for  prayer  by  the  Sunday  school  teachers 
only. 

(8)  Request  that  none  but  new  converts,  say  those 
who  have  been  converted  within  the  past  year,  pray. 

90.  To  get  new  voices  to  pray  is  one  of  the 
great  privileges  of  the  prayer  meeting  leader, 
one  that  brings  rich  reward  not  only  to  the 
one  who  prays,  but  to  the  company  and  leader 
as  well. 

91.  Before  a  season  of  voluntary  prayer  let 

89 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

the  leader  state  that  he  desires  persons  who 
may  never  have  led  in  public  prayer  to  have 
the  first  opportunity,  and  that  others  should 
not  respond  until  the  meeting  is  opened  for 
them.  Let  him  encourage  the  timid  ones  not  to 
try  to  pray  at  length,  but  to  offer  sentence 
prayers.  Remind  them  that  while  some  folks 
pray  too  long  and  hurt  the  meeting,  new  voices 
with  short  prayers  always  bless.  Remind  them 
that  they  are  gathered  as  a  family  and  that  in 
their  church  home  they  may  be  free.  Remind 
them,  too,  that  if  they  ever  enter  into  this 
privilege,  it  must  be  some  time.  Why  not  now? 
If  they  hesitate,  the  leader  may  indite  sen- 
tences for  them  to  use,  such  as  "Bless  me, 
Lord,  and  make  me  a  blessing.  For  Jesus' 
sake.  Amen."  A  prayer  like  the  foregoing, 
repeated  by  the  new  voices  in  unison,  will  en- 
courage some  to  individual  endeavor  later. 

92.  If  some  will  not  begin  with  extempore 
prayer  urge  them  to  write  out  a  brief  prayer 
at  home,  bring  it  to  the  service,  and  read  it. 
Those  who  thus  begin  will  gain  confidence  and 
will  naturally  outgi'ow  the  written  method. 

93.  A  pledge  taken  privately  by  the  leader 
from  those  he  wishes  to  enlist  in  public  prayer 
will  help  in  the  moment  of  decision. 

90 


PRAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

94.  Urge  those  who  have  not  yet  begun  to 
pray  publicly,  whether  they  desire  to  begin 
with  the  oral  or  written  form,  to  pray  audibly 
in  their  homes.  They  will  thus  become  accus- 
tomed to  their  own  voices  in  prayer  and  will 
thereby  be  emboldened  to  take  up  their  priv- 
ilege in  this  matter  in  the  public  service. 

95.  While  the  leader  has  the  rare  privilege 
of  leading  some  into  the  exercise  of  public 
prayer,  he  also  has  the  very  plain  duty  of  cur- 
tailing it  in  others.  In  almost  every  com- 
munity there  are  those  who  pray  too  long. 
They  persistently  monopolize  the  time  and 
usually  kill  the  meeting,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  there  are  very  few  who  can  pray  ten  and 
fifteen  minutes  in  each  service  week  in  and 
week  out,  and  do  it  to  the  edification  of  the 
people. 

96.  We  are  glad  to  say  that  occasionally  a 
long  prayer  will  not  hinder  but  help  the  prayer 
meeting,  especially  so  if  the  prayer  be  not  an 
antiquated  one,  but  the  passionate  heart-cry 
of  some  burdened  soul.  Under  the  power  and 
blessing  of  such  prayers  the  people  forget  time, 
and  the  wise  leader  does  also. 

97.  On  all  other  occasions  the  leader  should 
help  the  dear  brother  and  sister  of  multitu- 

91 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

dinous  words  to  brevity.  The  mere  suggestion 
to  "please  be  brief"  wdll  occasionally  help  one, 
but  all  too  often  it  falls  upon  unhearing  ears, 
or,  to  be  more  exact,  upon  unwilling  hearts. 
To  secure  brevity  the  leader  may  use  one  or 
more  of  the  following  methods  : 

(1)  By  the  clock.  Have  a  clock  so  placed  in  the 
prayer  meeting  room  that  all  can  easily  see  it.  We  do 
well  to  pray  by  that  sometimes.  When  two  persons 
consume  a  period  of  fifteen  minutes  by  the  clock  evi- 
dently one  or  both  have  prayed  too  long.  A  mere  state- 
ment of  that  fact  by  the  leader  at  the  opening  of  the 
meeting  where  there  is  a  possibility  of  prayers  of  that 
sort  will  help  some  to  their  duty  in  the  matter. 

(2)  By  appeal  to  the  spirit  of  courtesy.  Emphasize 
the  fact  that  the  meeting  is  a  prayer  meeting.  Now,  a 
"meeting"  implies  others,  and  others  have  rights;  and, 
out  in  the  world  of  society  and  business,  rights  are 
recognized  by  every  gentleman  and  lady.  Should  we  in 
the  fellowship  of  the  Kingdom  be  less  courteous  than 
they?  No.  As  men  and  women,  children  of  the  heav- 
enly King,  we  should  give  others  a  chance. 

(3)  By  persuasion.  Privately  and  frankly  open  up 
the  case  with  the  offender.  He  may  not  have  been  con- 
scious of  offense  in  the  matter.  Acquaint  him  with 
the  fact.  Lead  him  to  see  that  a  meeting  shared  by 
others  is  better  than  a  meeting  monopolized  week  by 
week  by  a  mere  few.  No  doubt  but  that  he  wants  to 
be  a  blessing,  and  when  the  case  is  put  up  to  him  as 
a  personal  one  he  may  not  only  see  his  privilege  in 
this  respect  but  also  improve  it. 

(4)  By   appeal   to   example.     Put   the   argument   by 

92 


PRAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

example  thus:  Jesus  prayed  long  prayers,  but  never  in 
public.  The  longest  of  which  we  know  is  in  the  seven- 
teenth chapter  of  Saint  John's  Gospel  and  you  can  read 
it  in  three  minutes.  There  were  only  eleven  besides 
Jesus  in  that  meeting.  Urge  upon  the  company  the 
fact  that  if  we  want  to  be  like  our  great  Example  we 
will  follow  a  rule  something  like  this:  If  twelve  are  at 
prayer  meeting,  one  may  pray  three  minutes;  if  more 
than  twelve,  believing  that  Jesus  approves  our  giving 
others  a  chance,  one's  prayer  must  be  shorter  than 
three  minutes. 

(5)  By  appeal  to  honesty.  Remind  the  company  that 
the  law  of  honesty  applies  to  the  prayer  meeting  as  well 
as  elsewhere,  and  that,  consequently,  they  should  no 
more  think  of  taking  the  minutes  that  rightly  belong 
to  others  than  they  would  of  appropriating  their  gold. 

(6)  By  provision.  After  all  is  said,  these  dear  souls 
who  have  the  long  prayer  habit  will  feel,  for  a  time  at 
least,  as  if  their  liberties  were  curtailed.  Habit,  wher- 
ever you  find  it,  in  things  sacred  as  well  as  profane, 
dislikes  to  be  broken.  Many  of  these  saints  cannot 
appreciate  the  fact  that  it  is  better  to  have  fifty  or  one 
hundred  in  a  prayer  meeting  where  brevity  is  the  rule 
than  to  have  eight  or  a  dozen  where  length  is  coun- 
tenanced. They  cannot  see  that  when  the  devil  lost  his 
grip  upon  them  in  sordid  lines  he  craftily  smuggled  it 
into  their  prayer  life.  They  must,  as  they  think,  "pray 
through."  Provide  for  this  feeling  by  encouraging  the 
organization  of  a  cottage  prayer  meeting  to  meet  upon 
some  other  evening  of  the  week.  Have  it  understood 
that  this  meeting,  unlike  the  other,  is  open  for  anyone 
to  pray  or  testify  as  long  as  he  may  choose.  Attend 
this  meeting  yourself.  It  won't  hurt  the  prayer  meet- 
ing leader  to  join  the  smaller  company  and  with  them 
go  "through."     Usually  they  are  very  devoted  people 

93 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PKAYER  MEETING 

who  would  hasten  the  coming  of  the  Kingdom,  and 
happy  is  the  pastor  whose  efforts  are  helped  by  the  peti- 
tions of  men  and  women  so  devout.  And  as  your  reg- 
ular prayer  meeting  grows  they,  too,  will  see  in  the 
greater  numbers  and  interest  the  wisdom  of  brevity  in 
the  weekly  service  of  prayer. 

(7)  By  command.  Finally,  if  all  else  fails,  use  the 
buzzer  or  sing  the  offender  down. 

98.  To  pray  into  one's  hands,  into  the  bot- 
tom of  the  pews,  or  with  a  voice  so  faint  that 
only  those  who  are  near  can  understand  is  to 
fail  to  really  lead.  Encourage  those  so  accus- 
tomed to  louder  voice  and  to  freedom  from  the 
hand  and  pew  habit  by  reminding  them  of 
their  opportunity,  and  privilege  as  well,  to 
bless  not  only  a  part  but  all  the  company. 
Practice  on  their  part  at  home  will  help  them 
more  readily  to  attain  liberty  in  the  meeting 
in  regard  to  these  matters. 

99.  In  special  prayer  meetings  the  prayers 
will,  of  course,  cling  around  the  theme — mis- 
sionary, patriotic,  or  any  other.  It  is  a  good 
plan,  however,  to  have  special  objects  of  prayer 
in  the  regular  prayer  meeting.  If  a  letter 
from  a  missionary  be  read,  have  a  season  of 
prayer  for  him  and  his  work.  Pray  for  the 
coming  Sunday  services,  the  coming  revival, 
the  mourning  ones,  the  sick,  some  special  com- 

94 


PEAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

munity  need,  and  do  not  forget  those  who  have 
asked  for  prayers.  Two  or  three  seasons  of 
special  prayer  for  as  many  objects  can  be  used 
with  profit  in  many  meetings. 

100.  Employ  concert  prayer.  Repeat  the 
Lord's  Prayer,  or  any  other  prayer,  knowTi  to 
all,  together.  A  short  prayer  indited  by  the 
leader,  siich  as,  "Lord,  give  me-  the  Holy 
Ghost,  for  Jesus'  sake,"  or  the  Bible  prayers, 
"Lord,  I  believe;  help  thou  my  unbelief,''  and, 
"Lord,  if  thou  wilt,  thou  canst  make  me  clean,'' 
can  be  used  in  the  same  manner.  This  form 
of  prayer  enlists  the  voices  of  the  timid  and  is 
valuable  for  carrying  the  volume  of  prayer 
when  volunteers  hesitate. 

101.  With  open  Bibles,  upon  your  knees,  let 
all  together  read  a  prayer  psalm. 

102.  Have  periods  of  silent  prayer,  and  do 
not  make  them  so  short  that  your  people  must 
cease  praying  before  they  have  well  begun.  As 
a  rule  the  leader  should  indicate  the  theme  for 
this  period  of  devotion. 

103.  Give  opportunity  for  those  who  desire 
an  interest  in  the  prayers  of  God's  people  to 
indicate  the  same  by  the  uplifted  hand,  by 
standing,  or  by  voice,  i^lso  let  -it-  be  kuown 
that  wT-itten  requests  for  prayers  for  self  or 

95 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

others,  whether  they  be  handed  in  before  or 
after  the  service,  are  welcomed.  Announce 
such  requests  the  first  service  after  receiving 
them,  withholding  the  names  of  those  making 
them,  unless  you  know  they  are  willing  to  have 
them  given  to  the  public. 

104.  Occasionally  have  the  company  come 
forward  for  a  season  of  prayer.  It  is  well  for 
the  people  of  God  to  leave  their  seats  through 
the  year  as  well  as  during  the  revival  and 
gather  around  the  altar  to  which  they  are 
wont  to  invite  their  unsaved  friends.  The  best 
of  us  are  but  sinners  "saved  by  grace,"  and  as 
such  should  always  keep  up  an  intimate  ac- 
quaintance with  the  place  where  ofttimes 

Heaven  comes  down  our  souls  to  greet. 
While  glory  crowns  the  mercy  seat. 

105.  Have  seasons  when  only  sentence  pray- 
ers are  offered.  These  prayers  may  be  wholly 
voluntary,  or  the  leader  may  call  upon  some 
particular  one  for  the  opening,  and  upon  an- 
other for  the  closing  prayer.  The  latter 
method  not  only  insures  a  prompt  beginning, 
but  also  facilitates  responses  because  of  the 
fact  that,  until  the  one  specified  to  close  prays, 
the  call   for   prayer   presses   with   unbroken 

urgency. 

96 


PEAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

106.  The  season  of  sentence  prayers  can  be 
used  with  great  profit  in  the  closing  moments 
when  there  still  remain  many  who  have  not 
prayed.  Just  before  the  benediction  have  the 
company  stand  with  bowed  heads  while  as 
many  as  will  volunteer  lead  in  prayer.  Let  it 
be  known  that  if  two  or  three  pray  at  once  it 
will  not  spoil  the  meeting,  God  can  hear.  God 
will  hear.  Better  by  far  at  such  a  moment  the 
united  and  eager  voices  of  many  talking  with 
God  than  awkward  absence  of  response.  Mag- 
nify this  closing  privilege.  Many  will  respond, 
and,  in  doing  so,  will  bless  both  themselves 
and  others. 

107.  Give  opportunity  for  those  who  desire 
to  do  so  to  make  public  acknowledgment  of 
answered  prayer. 

108.  It  is  very  fitting  that  in  a  meeting  called 
for  prayer  some  time  should  be  taken  for  con- 
sideration of  this  great  subject ;  indeed,  so  im- 
portant and  appropriate  is  this  theme,  it  is  al- 
ways in  order  to  consider  it,  whether  it  be  in  a 
large  way  by  assigning  topics  relating  to  the 
subject  beforehand  for  extended  preparation, 
whose  presentation  shall  be  followed  by  gen- 
eral discussion,  or  whether  the  leader  in  some 

unexpected  moment  drops  a  question  into  the 

97 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

service  for  informal  discussion.  Both  methods 
should,  in  time,  be  used.  The  first  requires 
more  time  and  demands  careful  preparation 
on  the  part  of  some;  while  the  second  by  its 
unexpectedness  and  the  opportunity  for  uni- 
versal reply  it  affords,  will  effectually  dispel 
any  disinterestedness  that  may  be  creeping 
into  the  meeting.  Here  is  a  quiver  of  ques- 
tions adapted  to  such  use : 

(1)  Why  should  we  pray  "in  Jesus's  name"? 

(2)  Why  are  answers  to  our  prayers  sometimes  de- 
layed? 

(3)  What  is  the  difference  between  supplication  and 
intercession? 

(4)  Why  should  we  pray  for  one  another? 

(5)  What  are  the  requisites  of  true  prayer? 

(6)  How  great  is  the  power  of  prayer? 

(7)  Why  should   we   observe   family  worship? 

(8)  Is  prayer  simply  asking  God  for  what  we  want? 

(9)  Why  should  we  come  together  to  pray? 

(10)  What  relation  does  the  Holy  Spirit  bear  to  our 
prayers? 

(11)  Of  what  importance  is  prayer? 

(12)  What    part     should     praise     have     in     prayer? 
Confession? 

(13)  What  relation  does  restitution  bear  to  prayer? 
Forgiveness? 

(14)  Why  do  I  believe  in  prayer? 

(15)  What  place  does  faith  occupy  in  true  prayer? 

(16)  Can  we  make  up  for  the  lack  of  praying  by 
doing? 

98 


PEAYER  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

(17)  Is  praying,  in  itself,  without  reference  to  God's 
answer,  beneficial  to  the  one  who  prays? 

(18)  How  and  when  did  I  begin  to  pray  in  public? 

(19)  How  great  is  the  worth  of  secret  prayer? 

(20)  How  can  we  "pray  without  ceasing"? 

(21)  Of  what  value  are  written  prayers? 

(22)  What  place  does  prayer  occupy  in  the  soul- 
winner's  equipment? 

(23)  How  does  God  send  the  answers  to  our  prayers? 

(24)  What  should  we  especially  pray  for  just  ^ow? 

109.  Witli  tlie  Bible  in  everyone's  hands  read 
and  study  the  Bible  prayers.  One  upon  any 
particular  evening  will  be  enough.  These 
models  of  devotion,  these  passionate  heart 
cries,  these  petitions  that  moved  heaven  to 
answer  will  not  only  instruct  in  the  form  and 
manner  of  prayer,  but  will  also  inspire  and 
encourage  its  practice. 

110.  The  study  of  the  prayers  of  God's 
great  men  and  w^omen  whose  lives  are  found 
outside  the  Bible  record  will  likewise  be  of 
profit. 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  PEAYER  MEETING  LESSON 


Paragraph 

111.  The  Word  of  God  should  have  a  place. 

112.  Who  should  present  lesson? 
,  113.  Reading  the  lesson. 

114.  Nature  of  comment. 

115,  116.  Enlisting  others  to  help  in  the  presentation. 

117.  The  leader  should  always  be  prepared. 

118.  Blackboard  presentation. 

119.  Omit  comment. 

120.  Time,  how  long? 

121.  Time,  when? 

122.  Series. 

123.  Announce  reference  before  meeting. 

124.  Selecting  the  Scripture. 

125.  Topic  notebook. 

126.  Where  to  secure  lists  of  topics. 

127.  Bible  reading. 

128.  Ten    methods   by   which   the   company   may 

introduce  Scripture. 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Prayer  Meeting  Lesson 

"Search  the  Scriptures." — John  5.  39. 

111.  It  is  indeed  fitting  that  those  who  come 
to  talk  to  God  should  also  hear  from  him ;  and 
this  they  do  not  only  when  their  hearts  listen 
to  the  inner  voice,  but  also  when  they  give  a 
place  in  their  prayer  service,  as  should  always 
be  done,  for  the  reading  of  God's  Word. 

112.  The  presentation  of  the  Scripture  les- 
son naturally  falls  upon  the  leader,  who,  by 
position,  training,  and  opportunity  for  prepa- 
ration, is  especially  fitted  for  this  task,  which, 
ordinarily,  he  should  perform.  If  a  visiting 
minister,  a  retired  minister,  or  a  former  pastor 
is  present,  it  is  fitting  to  invite  him  to  present 
the  Scripture ;  or,  if  there  be  laymen  with  gifts 
for  such  service,  it  is  well,  occasionally,  to  in- 
vite such  to  perform  it;  but  such  invitation 
should  always  be  extended,  if  possible,  before 
the  hour  of  service. 

113.  The  reading  of  the  lesson  may  be  by  any 
one  of  four  methods : 

103 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

(1)  The  lesson  may  be  read  by  the  leader. 

(2)  The  leader  may  request  another  to  read  it. 

(3)  The  lesson  may  be  read  in  concert. 

(4)  It  may  be  read  responsively,  in  at  least  eight 
different  ways:  (1)  by  the  leader  and  company,  (2)  by 
two  persons  selected  by  the  leader,  (3)  by  the  men  and 
the  women,  (4)  by  those  under  twenty-one  and  those 
over  twenty-one  years  of  age,  (5)  by  the  choir  and  the 
company,  (6)  by  those  sitting  in  two  sections  of  chairs, 
(7)  by  rows  of  chairs,  the  front  row  taking  the  first 
verse,  the  second  row  the  second  verse,  and  continuing 
thus  until  the  lesson  is  completed,  and  (8)  the  leader 
or  some  one  appointed  by  him  may  read  the  Revised 
Version  and  another  or  the  entire  company  may  read 
the  same  verse  from  the  Authorized  Version. 

The  first  method  is  exclusive  and  personal — 
the  leader  alone  carries  the  responsibility ;  the 
second  provides  the  leader  with  a  splendid  op- 
portunity for  training  young  people  in  the  fine 
art  of  reading  the  Holy  Scriptures  in  the  con- 
gregation, a  training  which  will  pave  the  way 
for  larger  responsibility  later  on ;  the  last  two 
methods  place  the  Book  in  everybody's  hands 
and  the  Word  in  everybody's  mouth,  things 
always  worth  while, 

114.  The  comment  upon  the  lesson  should 
not  be  shaped  into  a  sermon.  That  form  of  ad- 
dress should  be  reserved  for  the  Sunday  serv- 
ice. The  term,  "prayer  meeting  talk,"  which 
has  come  to  be  applied  to  the  prayer  meeting 

104 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LESSON 

address,  is  well  chosen,  fitting  the  case  exactly. 
This  address  should  be  a  heart-to-heart  talk 
from  one  member  of  the  church  family  to  his 
fellows;  it  should  be  soulful  and  sympathetic, 
a  message  which  deals  with  the  everyday  life 
of  the  company,  the  experiences  of  their  hearts 
and  the  work  of  their  hands ;  it  should  be  full 
of  counsel,  comfort,  and,  if  need  be,  warning; 
it  should  throb  with  inspiration  and  hope. 
Far-fetched  subjects,  theological  hairsplitting 
and  abstruse  dissertation  should  have  no  place 
here.  When  the  leader  is  done  the  company 
should  feel  they  know  God's  will  better,  and 
have  greater  eagerness,  for  the  Master's  sake 
and  the  world's,  to  do  it. 

115.  At  times,  the  leader  may  request  an- 
other to  present  the  subject;  or,  if  he  desires, 
he  may  invite  several  persons  to  assist  him  in 
this  privilege.  Previous  to  the  service  give  slips 
with  questions  or  topics  relating  to  the  subject, 
together  with  the  number  of  minutes  to  be 
used  by  each,  to  those  it  is  desired  shall  present 
them.  Your  helpers  will  thus  have  a  clear 
before-meeting  understanding  as  to  what  is  ex- 
pected of  them.  In  the  meeting,  before  you  call 
for  any  topic,  announce  that  each  speaker  is  to 
have  a  particular  number  of  minutes,  the  num- 

105 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

ber  given  previously  with  the  topics,  and  that 
a  tap  of  your  pencil  will  indicate  their  expira- 
tion, and  that,  if  they  desire  it,  they  may  have 
one  more  minute  to  close  their  remarks.  With 
this  clear  understanding  on  the  part  of  every- 
one, "calling  time"  upon  any  speaker  will  not 
be  a  cause  of  embarrassment,  but  rather  an 
occasion  for  gratitude — on  the  part  of  the 
speaker,  because  he  is  saved  from  trespassing 
uj)ou  the  time  allotted  to  others,  a  thing  that, 
when  absorbed  in  speaking,  one  with  the  best 
of  intentions  may  easily  do,  and,  on  the  part 
of  the  company,  that  they  are  in  the  hands  of 
a  leader  who  safeguards  the  interests  of  all, 
hearers  and  speakers,  alike.  After  all  the 
topics  have  been  presented,  the  leader  should, 
relate  the  whole,  and  apply. 

116.  At  other  times  announce  the  subject 
with  Scripture  reference  one  week  or  at  least 
the  Sunday  before,  with  the  request  that  every- 
one prepare  to  contribute  some  word  of  com- 
ment, exposition,  or  an  illustration.  Welcome 
clippings  relating  to  the  theme  which  your 
people  glean  from  their  reading.  The  oppor- 
tunity thus  placed  before  all  will  be  accepted 
by  many,  and,  while  no  one  can  be  permitted 
to  speak  at  length,  the  variety,  richness,  and 

106 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LESSON 

beauty  of  the  truth  as  it  flashes  from  many 
minds  will  charm  and  delight. 

117.  This  sharing  of  the  delivery  of  the  mes- 
sage Avith  others  will  not  relieve  the  leader  of 
the  obligation  of  adequate  preparation;  for 
upon  him  devolves  the  task  of  directing  the 
presentation,  relating  the  parts,  and,  in  the 
end,  summing  up ;  and  besides,  he  must  also,  in 
the  case  of  the  failure  of  those  who  are  ex- 
pected to  take  part,  fill  in ;  but  he  should  in  no 
case,  when  others  are  expected  to  speak,  ex- 
haust the  subject  in  the  opening  moments.  To 
do  so  is,  to  say  the  least,  to  be  unfair,  and  no 
prayer  meeting  leader  should  consent  to  be 
guilty  of  that  discourtesy. 

118.  Some  themes  admit  of  blackboard  pres- 
entation. With  a  ready  writer,  the  leader  or 
some  other,  at  the  board,  let  the  company  pre- 
ferably, or,  if  they  fail,  the  leader,  indicate 
the  keyword  or  w^ords  in  the  verse  or  passage, 
or  the  leading  thoughts  in  the  same.  You  will 
find  every  eye  following  the  hand  of  the 
writer.  The  advantage  of  this  simple  exercise 
is  twofold:  first,  in  the  fact  that  though  only 
a  few  words  are  written,  or  possibly  a  single 
sentence,  yet  the  whole  company  will  have 
their  minds  intent  upon  selecting  the  same; 

107 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

and  second,  in  the  fact  that  when  it  is  done  the 
eye  will  help  remember  what  the  ear  has  heard. 

119.  Sometimes  read  the  Scripture  without 
any  comment  or  "talk"  at  all. 

120.  Do  not  use  more  than  fifteen  minutes 
for  Scripture  presentation;  it  is  the  hour  of 
prayer.  Opportunity  for  extended  Bible  study 
should  be  provided  elsewhere. 

121.  The  mere  shifting  of  the  time  of  the 
presentation  of  the  lesson,  at  one  time  in  the 
beginning,  at  another  in  the  middle,  and  at 
another  toward  the  end  or  even  at  the  very 
close  of  the  service  will  give  variety. 

122.  The  use  of  "series"  of  studies,  in  which 
each  separate  study,  though  complete  in  itself, 
presents  some  phase  of  the  common  topic,  will 
be  found  highly  profitable,  not  only  because  of 
the  larger  grasp  of  the  subject  which  is  made 
possible,  but  also  because  such  a  plan  is  ad- 
mirably adapted  to  sustain  interest. 

123.  Placing  the  Scripture  reference  upon 
the  blackboard  a  week  before  its  presentation 
will  serve  a  twofold  purpose :  It  will  be  a  con- 
stant reminder  to  all  who  see  it  of  the  midweek 
hour  of  prayer,  and  it  also  provides  opportu- 
nity for  preparation  to  all,  which  privilege 
gome,  at  least,  will  gladly  improve. 

108 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LESSON 

124.  The  leader  who  selects  his  own  Scrip- 
ture lessons  has  opportunity,  because  of  his  ac- 
quaintance with  the  people  and  conditions,  to 
meet  the  situation  in  a  very  blessed  way.  How- 
ever, some  prefer  to  use  subjects  selected  by 
others.  The  first  method  requires  more  initia- 
tive and  originality;  the  second  is  likely  to 
afford  a  larger  measure  of  helps,  expository 
and  illustrative.  The  first  is  to  gather  the 
bouquet  yourself ;  the  second  is  to  take  it  from 
some  one  else.  Both  have  their  advantages. 
Freshness  will  surely  characterize  the  ,  one, 
richness  and  elegance  the  other.  Each  leader 
must  choose  for  himself  and  may  find  it  wise 
to  use  upon  some  occasions  one,  and  upon  other 
occasions  the  other.  Some  pastors  select  and 
publish  their  topics  for  a  quarter  and  some- 
times even  for  a  year  in  advance ;  but  topics  so 
planned  should  give  way  to  those  themes 
which,  though  brought  forth  by  conditions  and 
circumstances  which  were  unforeseen,  yet, 
nevertheless,  are  of  such  importance  as  to 
demand  immediate  consideration. 

125.  If  you  select  your  own  topics,  and  you 
should  do  so  for  a  part  of  the  time,  at  least,  you 
will  find  it  profitable  to  have  a  topic  notebook. 
In  it  put  down,  as  you  discover  them,  verses 

109 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

and  passages  suitable  for  prayer  meeting  use, 
together  with  such  notes  explanatory  and  illus- 
trative as  may  occur  at  the  time.  If  you  ask 
your  people  to  hand  you  on  slips  of  paper  pas- 
sages that  are  of  especial  interest  to  them  you 
will  greatly  augment  your  own  list  and  will 
have  at  hand  a  storehouse  of  material,  rich, 
ready,  and  appropriate,  and,  consequently, 
such  as  will  command  attention,  upon  which 
you  may  draw  as  occasion  may  require. 

126.  Those  who  desire  to  secure  published 
lists  of  prayer  meeting  topics,  ^ith  Scriptural 
references,  are  referred  to  their  denomina- 
tional boards  or  to  Appendix  A  of  this  volume, 
where  books  containing  such  lists  are  noted. 

127.  The  leader  may  bring  the  Scripture  les- 
son to  the  meeting  in  the  form  of  a  Bible  read- 
ing. In  such  cases  the  members  of  the  com- 
pany should  promptly  take  the  references  as 
the  leader  reads  them,  and  be  prepared  to  read 
the  passages  when  called  upon. 

128.  While  it  devolves  upon  the  leader  to 
bring  the  regular  Scripture  lesson  to  the  meet- 
ing, it  is  his  privilege,  as  well,  to  encourage  his 
people  to  bring  other  passages  of  the  Word. 
These  may  be  used  in  connection  with  the  regu- 
lar lesson  or  apart  from  it,  as  he  may  deter- 
no 


THE  PRAYER  MEETING  LESSON 

mine,  and,  occasionally,  they  may  take  its 
place.  These  passages  may  be  introduced  by 
any  of  the  following  methods : 

(1)  General  quotations.  Open  the  meeting  for  vol- 
unteers to  quote  any  passages  of  Scripture  they  may 
choose. 

(2)  Promises.  Let  those  who  will  respond  with 
promises.  If  you  desire  a  larger  response  both  as  to 
number  and  variety  than  an  impromptu  call  brings,  give 
one  week's  notice,  requesting  those  in  one  section  to 
bring,  say,  promises  for  sinners,  another  section  prom- 
ises for  the  converted,  another  for  material  blessings, 
and  another  promises  relating  to  heaven. 

(3)  Initial  verses.  Invite  your  company  to  bring 
to  the  meeting  verses  of  Scripture  beginning  with  the 
initials  of  their  last  names.  If  your  company  be  large, 
before  you  call  for  responses,  divide  the  alphabet  into 
three  or  four  sections;  have  all  those  who  come  within 
the  first  section,  say  A  to  G,  stand,  and,  when  the  leader 
calls  their  initials,  repeat  their  verses  and  sit  down.  Do 
the  same  with  the  remaining  sections,  interspersing  the 
reciting  of  Scripture  with  singing.  Have  a  teller  keep 
tally,  and  when  done,  report  the  number  taking  part. 
A  delightful  exercise  this,  one  that  leads  the  company 
to  search  the  Word  for  "my  verse"  and  to  make  a  per- 
sonal contribution  of  it  to  the  meeting, 

(4)  Favorite  verses.  Call  for  favorite  verses,  and 
encourage  those  who  respond  to  give  the  reason  for 
their  preference. 

(5)  Prophecy  and  its  fulfillment.  After  previous 
announcement  so  as  to  provide  adequate  time  for  prep- 
aration, open  the  meeting  for  volunteers  to  give  some 
prophecy  and  also  the  Scripture  showing  its  fulfillment.. 

Ill 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

The  leader  should  be  prepared  with  a  list  of  prophecies 
and  their  fulfillment  so  as  to  be  ready  to  supplement 
those  given  by  the  company  should  the  response  be 
meager.  Indeed,  he  may  guarantee  a  good  response  by 
passing  slips  with  the  references  before  the  opening 
of  the  service,  giving  them  to  those  who  have  not  made 
any  selection  of  their  own.  If  he  does  this,  he  should 
enlist  the  larger  number  of  persons  by  giving  the 
prophecy  to  one  person  and  its  fulfillment  to  another. 

(6)  Keywords.  Select  some  word  you  desire  to  study 
with  your  company  and  announce  it  as  a  "keyword" 
with  the  request  that  each  one  bring  a  verse  containing 
it  to  the  next  meeting.  Welcome  a  word  of  comment 
from  each  upon  the  passage  he  brings. 

(7)  Words  of  Jesus.  Have  attendants  quote  some 
command,  promise,  warning,  prayer,  invitation,  or  any 
other  of  the  words  of  Jesus. 

(8)  Words  of  Saint  Paul.  Spend  ten  minutes  with 
Saint  Paul,  having  the  company  quote  only  his  words. 

(9)  The  Psalms.     Do  the  same  with  the  Psalms. 

(10)  Use  the  Proverbs  in  a  similar  manner. 

In  the  presentation  of  the  above  exercises 
the  one  speaking  should  stand  unless  there  be 
reasons  to  the  contrary,  and  speak  distinctly. 
Since  most  of  these  passages  must  necessarily 
be  short,  let  them  be  given  from  memory  as  far 
as  possible;  but  let  those  who  are  not  willing 
to  risk  their  memory  be  encouraged  to  read 
their  contributions;  it  is  better  for  them  and 
for  the  meeting  that  they  read  than  that  they 
should  take  no  part  whatever. 

112 


CHAPTER  VIII 
PRAYER  MEETING  TESTIMONY 


Paragraph 

129.  Testimony  has  a  place  in  the  prater  meeting. 

130,  131.  Its  nature. 

132.  Voluntary,  chiefly. 

133.  Its  length. 

134.  Posture. 

135.  To  shift  privilege. 

136.  To  enlist  new  voices. 

137.  Written  testimonies. 

138.  Returned  absentees. 

139.  Leader  should  direct. 

140.  To  expedite  testimony. 

141.  Sentence  testimony. 

142.  Shift  period. 

143.  The  just-before-dismissal  testimony. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Prayer  Meeting  Testimony 

^^Be  not  thou  therefore  ashamed  of  the  testi- 
mony of  our  Lord." — 2  Timothy  1.  S. 

129.  It  was  a  conviction  of  the  author's  in 
his  earlier  experience  that  a  prayer  meeting 
should  be  made,  as  he  was  wont  to  express  it, 
"really  a  prayer  meeting,"  that  is,  a  service  for 
prayer  supplemented  by  singing  and  Scripture 
reading,  but  without  any  testimony  whatever. 
Not  that  he  did  not  believe  in  relating  personal 
experience,  far  from  it ;  but  because  he  did  not 
believe  that  testimony  fell  within  the  province 
of  the  prayer  meeting,  but  of  other  services  in 
the  church,  notably  the  class  meeting.  Ac- 
cordingly he  ordered  his  prayer  meetings  so — 
made  them  "really  prayer  meetings,"  and 
though  they  were  services  that  greatly  helped 
all  who  came  in  touch  with  them,  yet,  it  must 
be  confessed,  they  lacked  that  blessed  some- 
thing which  the  spoken  word  of  testimony 
gives.  After  a  while,  learning  more  concern- 
ing the  nature  of  prayer  itself,  he  saw  that 
there  is  in  it  not  only  a  place  for  petition,  but 

115 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

also  for  praise;  for  did  not  our  Lord,  who 
taught  us  to  i">etition  "Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread,"  also  teach  us  the  way  of  praise, 
"For  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the  power,  and 
the  glory"?  Grasping  this  truth,  it  was  but 
a  stej)  to  carry  it  to  the  prayer  meeting;  for 
if  praise  should  be  found  in  true  prayer  we 
should  also  expect  to  find  it  in  a  true  prayer 
meeting.  The  one  without  it  must  be  as  in- 
complete as  the  other.  The  praise  we  put  into 
our  prayers  is  not  adequate  for  this  service; 
nor  do  songs  of  praise  meet  the  need  for  praise 
any  more  than  songs  of  prayer  meet  the  need 
for  prayer.  We  sing  prayers  and  pray  besides ; 
we  sing  praises,  and  to  complete  our  privilege, 
should  speak  them  also — we  should  talk  about 
what  Jesus  has  done  for  us,  for  his  glory. 
Seeing  this,  the  author  rebuilt  his  prayer 
meeting  to  the  joy  of  his  own  heart  and  the 
great  blessing  of  his  people. 

130.  Prayer  meeting  testimony  should  not  be 
merely  comment;  it  should  be  real  testimony. 
There  is  a  difference ;  and  the  leader  should  in- 
struct his  people  in  this  matter.  Comment  re- 
quires head ; '  testimony  also  requires  heart. 
Comment  is  impersonal;  testimony  is  per- 
sonal.   Comment  is  likely  to  smother  the  fire ; 

116 


PRAYER  MEETING  TESTIMONY 

testimony  will  kindle  it.  Comment  may  be 
dead;  testimony  is  always  life.  Comment  has 
its  place,  let  us  admit,  as  when  topics  are  up 
for  consideration,  but  it  should  not  come  into 
the  testimony  service  and  supplant  the  simple 
telling  of  the  gracious  experiences  of  the 
heart  in  things  divine. 

131.  Prayer  meeting  testimony  should  also 
dwell  very  lightly  upon  the  magnitude  of  past 
sins,  unless  such  sins  are  still  unconfessed  and 
unforgiven;  in  which  case  confession  should 
be  as  complete  as  God's  law  of  forgiveness 
demands.  To  magnify  sin  is  to  magnify  the 
devil.  The  followers  of  Jesus  are  not  called 
upon  to  do  that.  When  God  forgives  sins  he 
says  he  "will  remember  them  no  more,"  and 
if  he  does  not  even  remember  them  we  should, 
at  least,  not  unduly  recount  them.  Prayer 
meeting  testimony  should  witness  for  Jesus, 
his  love,  his  grace,  his  power  to  save ;  it  should 
exalt  the  Holy  Ghost ;  it  should  tell  of  the  new- 
found life,  its  progress,  its  comfort,  its  hope; 
it  should  speak  of  battles  fought  and  victories 
won;  it  should  speak  of  the  joy  of  the  Lord 
which  is  strength,  and,  if  joy  is  dimmed,  of 
faith  which  should  never  suffer  eclipse — in 
short,  it  should  glorify  God. 
117 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

132.  As  a  rule  make  tlie  testimony  service  a 
voluntary  one.  There  will  be  times,  however, 
when  you  will  want  certain  persons  to  speak, 
and  in  such  cases  you  should  not  hesitate  to 
call  upon  them.  You  will  find  it  refreshing, 
also,  to  occasionally  employ,  if  the  company 
be  not  so  large  as  to  take  too  much  time  for 
it,  the  old-time  class  meeting  method  of  our 
fathers.  Call  upon  one,  and  another,  and  then 
another  till  you  have  called  upon  all  present ; 
and,  when  each  has  spoken,  take  him  by  the 
hand  and  quote  an  appropriate  verse  of  Scrip- 
ture or  give  some  word  of  counsel  or  exhorta- 
tion suitable  to  his  case.  Intersperse  this  ex- 
ercise with  singing. 

133.  Let  brevity  be  the  rule  in  the  testimony 
meeting.  Exceptions  should  be  rare.  Brevity 
will  give  greater  blessing  and  larger  variety 
from  the  simple  fact  that  many  different 
phases  of  experience  may  be  heard  from  as 
many  different  voices.  If  the  meeting  pos- 
sesses those  who  are  inclined  to  great  length 
they  may  be  helped  to  their  privilege  in  this 
matter  by  applying  the  rule  for  obtaining 
short  prayers  found  in  paragraph  97  in  the 
chapter  on  "Prayer  in  the  Prayer  Meeting." 

134.  Those  speaking  should  stand  unless 

118 


PKAYER  MEETING  TESTIMONY 

there  should  be  special  reason  for  sitting. 
The  standing  witness  can  more  easily  be  heard, 
and,  moreover,  one  so  speaking  is  more  clearly 
distinguished  from  his  fellows  and  more  defi- 
nitely committed  as  a  witness,  things  desirable 
always.  When  two  or  more  arise  at  the  same 
time  to  speak,  encourage  those  who  are  to 
speak  last  to  exercise  "standing  grace"  by  re- 
maining upon  their  feet  until  their  testimony 
is  given.  The  mere  fact  that  people  are  stand- 
ing waiting  their  turn  to  speak  a  word  for 
the  Master  is  inspiring. 

135.  To  avoid  the  same  willing  one  half 
dozen  monopolizing  the  meeting  each  week 
see  paragraph  89  in  the  chapter  on  "Prayer  in 
the  Prayer  Meeting,"  where  rules  for  meeting 
the  dangers  of  the  voluntary  service  are  found. 
As  applied  to  testimony  they  would  be,  briefly : 
Call  for  testimony  by  sections  or  by  pews ;  re- 
quest the  speakers  of  the  week  before  to  keep 
silent;  have  testimony  by  sexes;  speak  by 
ages;  open  the  meeting  for  school  folks  only, 
the  teachers,  high  school  and  grade  pupils; 
give  the  time  exclusively  to  members  of  your 
young  people's  society ;  do  the  same  with  your 
Sunday  school  teachers;  and  hear  only  from 
new  converts.    By  these  methods  the  privilege 

119 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PEAYER  MEETING 

of  the  service  is  passed  around  and  freshness 
is  secured. 

136.  A  word  from  a  new  voice  always  adds 
to  the  power  of  the  meeting.  In  the  presence 
of  those  accustomed  to  speak  persons  who  have 
not  improved  their  privilege  in  this  matter 
are  usually  timid.  Such  should  be  encouraged 
to  take  definite  part.  Persuade  them  that  they 
can  mention  at  least  one  thing  for  which  they 
are  thankful.  Then  make  way  for  such  by 
requesting  that  no  one  speak  except  those  who 
have  never  spoken  before.  Encouragement 
given  in  love,  both  outside  and  inside  the  meet- 
ing, is  sure  to  enlist  new  voices  as  the  weeks 
come  and  go;  and  from  the  simple  statement 
of  thanksgiving  they  will  be  led  to  larger  ex- 
pression concerning  the  facts  relative  to  their 
Christian  experience. 

137.  Let  it  be  known  that  written  testi- 
monies will  be  welcomed.  The  hesitant  and 
timid  may  thus  be  actively  enlisted  in  the 
service,  and,  having  begun,  will  sooner  or  later 
outgrow  the  method.  Encourage  your  people, 
also,  to  send  their  testimonies,  when  away, 
that  they  may  be  read  in  the  meeting. 

138.  When  regular  prayer  meeting  attend- 
ants, because  of  absence  from  home,  sickness, 

120 


PEAYER  MEETING  TESTIMONY 

or  other  reasons,  have  been  denied  the  privi- 
lege of  the  service  for  several  weeks,  upon  their 
return  give  them  the  first  chance  to  speak  and 
that  without  limit.  The  words  they  bring 
from  their  new  contact  with  life,  in  sickness, 
business,  or  pleasure,  will  be  like  treasures 
brought  from  far. 

139.  The  leader  may  direct  the  testimonies 
along  any  particular  line  he  may  choose,  al- 
ways remembering  to  accord  to  those  who 
speak  the  privilege  of  taking  up  any  other 
line  they  may  prefer.  He  may  suggest  that 
the  testimonies  cluster  around  the  Scripture 
lesson ;  about  some  item  of  interest  in  the  com- 
munity in  its  relation  to  the  Christian  life ;  or 
about  some  particular  phase  of  personal  ex- 
perience. The  suggestion  may  take  the  form 
of  a  question  which  those  w^ho  speak  may 
answer.  Any  subject,  thus  elucidated,  will 
take  on  newer  and  richer  meaning. 

140.  To  expedite  testimony,  it  is  well  and 
will  give  variety,  occasionally,  to  ask  all  those 
who  desire  to  speak  to  arise  at  once;  then  as 
the  leader  indicates,  let  each  one  speak,  and 
having  done,  sit  down. 

141.  If  the  company  be  large  or  the  time 
limited,  or  both,  and  it  is  desired  that  all 

121 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PEAYER  MEETING 

speak,  liave  each  person  name  one  thing  for 
which  he  praises  God;  or,  to  put  it  another 
way,  request  each  one  to  complete  the  sen- 
tence, "I  am  glad  for  ";  or,  let  each  be 

free  to  express  his  heart  in  whatever  way  he 
chooses  provided  he  does  it  in  a  single  sen- 
tence. This  service,  if  joined  in  heartily  by  the 
company,  teems  with  interest;  but  it  should 
be  kept  going.  If  five  or  six  or  more  are 
standing  waiting  their  turn  to  speak,  all  the 
better..    If  it  should  drag,  do  something  else. 

142.  Shift  the  period  given  to  testimony. 
Sometimes  let  it  come  early  in  the  meeting; 
sometimes  in  the  middle;  and  at  other  times 
toward  the  close  of  the  service.  The  mere 
fact  of  shifting  will  help  keep  the  meeting 
from  running  in  a  rut. 

143.  In  the  moments  just  before  the  benedic- 
tion, instead  of  having  the  company  stand 
with  bowed  heads  while  a  great  many  respond 
with  sentence  prayers,  have  them  stand  and 
give  sentence  testimonies.  The  fact  that 
everybody  is  upon  his  feet  on  the  eve  of  dis- 
missal will  help  some  to  take  part  who  have 
not  courage  as  yet  to  arise  in  the  crowd,  stand 
alone,  and  speak.  Voices  thus  won  will  be  in 
line  for  larger  effort  in  days  to  follow. 

122 


CHAPTER  IX 
PRAYER  MEETING  MUSIC 


Paragraph 

144.  The  handmaid  of  prayer. 

145.  Posture, 

146.  Musical  instruments  and  performers. 

147.  Hymn  book. 

148.  Chorister. 

149.  Who  should  select  hymns? 

150.  Chorus  choir. 

151.  Congregational  singing. 

152.  Special  music. 

153.  Seasons  of  song. 

154.  Antiphonal. 

155.  In  unison. 

156.  Without  books. 

157.  Spontaneous  song. 

158.  Old  Hymn  Service. 

159.  Favorite  Hymn  Service. 

160.  Knee  hymns. 

161.  Read  hymns. 

162.  Study  hymns. 

163.  Bible  reading  on  song. 

164.  Discarded  hymn  books. 

165.  Whistle. 


CHAPTER  .IX 

Prayer  Meeting  Music 

"/w  psalms  and  hymns  and  spiritual  songs." — 
Colossians  3.  16. 

144.  Sacred  music  is  the  beautiful  hand- 
maid of  prayer,  and  as  such  should  always 
have  a  large  place  in  the  prayer  meeting. 

145.  As  a  rule  have  the  company  remain 
seated  while  singing.  The  only  regular  ex- 
ception should  be  during  the  singing  of  the 
last  hymn  when  the  company  should  stand. 
All  other  exceptions  should  be  at  the  discre- 
tion of  the  leader.  The  prayer  meeting  is  a 
midweek  service,  and  many  of  your  people 
have  come  from  a  day  of  toil.  They  come  to 
the  service  weary  in  body.  If  they  had  stayed 
at  home  they  would  be  spending  the  hour  in 
their  easy-chairs.  Do  not  press  them  into  the 
"rising  and  falling"  habit.  It  distracts.  Let 
them  sit  still  and  rest  and  commune.  When 
the  hour  is  done  the  rest  you  have  ministered 
to  their  bodies  will  have  helped  to  minister 
rest  to  their  souls. 

125 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

146.  Use  the  organ  or  piano.  The  instru- 
ment will  add  sweetness,  volume,  and  power 
to  the  singing.  In  the  selection  of  your  or- 
ganist you  will  do  well  to  pass  by  the  bril- 
liant, but  irregular  and  sometimes  tardy,  one 
for  the  regular  but  less  brilliant  performer. 
Appreciate  your  organist.  Let  her  know  per- 
sonally you  are  conscious  of  and  are  thankful 
for  her  interest  and  help  in  the  service;  and, 
if  you  will  but  give  them  opportunity,  the 
people  will  gladly  join  you  in  saying  "thank 
you"  to  this  worker  who  contributes  so  much 
to  the  pleasure  and  success  of  the  meeting. 

147.  Those  who  use  the  hymn  book  in  their 
midweek  service  as  a  rule  insist  that  there  is 
no  song  book  its  equal  for  this  purpose.  The 
high  type  both  of  hymns  and  tunes  makes  it 
worthy  of  all  the  praise  it  receives;  yet  there 
is  no  doubt  but  that  in  most  places  the  smaller 
and  lighter  volume  of  the  gospel  meeting  type 
is  used,  and,  very  likely,  will  continue  in  its 
popularity.  But  whatever  book  is  chosen  the 
supi)ly  should  be  plentiful  enough  so  that  each 
attendant  may  have  a  copy. 

148.  The  prayer  meeting  chorister  need  not 
only  know  how  to  carry  a  tune,  he  should  also 
know  God — he  should  be  a  man  full  of  faith 

126 


PRAYER  MEETING  MUSIC 

and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  a  man  acquainted  with 
the  way  of  prayer.  If  he  possesses  only  an 
ordinary  voice  that  fact  should  not  militate 
against  him ;  in  truth,  the  likelihood,  yes,  cer- 
tainty, is,  that  he  will  more  abundantly  bless 
the  meeting  than  some  musical  enthusiast  who 
has  not  learned  the  way  of  prayer.  If,  besides 
being  devoted  to  God,  he  is  well  versed  in 
music  and  possesses  a  fine  voice,  both  he  and 
the  prayer  meeting  company  have  a  special 
reason  for  gratitude  to  God.  In  many  places 
the  privilege  of  leading  in  song  devolves  upon 
the  leader,  and  happy  is  that  leader  who  can 
and  is  willing  to  meet  it  even  though  it  be  in 
a  very  limited  way;  for  he  will  find  that  the 
lack  of  a  cultivated  voice  does  not  preclude 
the  possibility  of  enlisting  the  interest  of  the 
people  in  sacred  song  nor  keep  him  from  lead- 
ing them  to  glad  response  with  their  voices. 
But  whoever  he  may  be,  the  chorister  should 
give  attention  to  these  four  things:  (1)  He 
should  stand  where  all  the  people  can  see  him. 
( 2 )  He  should  have  the  hymns  ready  upon  the 
moment.  (3)  He  should  encourage  everybody 
to  sing.  (4)  He  should  not  suffer  the  people 
to  sing  too  slowly. 

149.  The  leader  should  select  the  hymns  to 

127 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PEAYER  MEETING 

be  used  before  the  service  begins,  and  should, 
at  times,  share  this  privilege  with  his  people. 
This  may  be  done  by  inviting  volunteers  at 
large  to  announce  numbers.  If  the  response 
be  tardy,  the  leader  should  call  from  his  own 
list.  To  make  response  more  prompt  and  cer- 
tain he  may  request  some  particular  person, 
or  some  designated  group,  say,  those  in  a  cer- 
tain row  of  seats,  or  those  in  a  certain  section, 
or  the  choir  to  be  ready  with  a  hymn,  when, 
after  prayer.  Scripture  reading,  or  other  ex- 
ercise, it  is  desired  to  sing  again.  Sharing  the 
selection  of  the  hymns  with  the  company  will 
give  larger  variety  in  the  selection,  while  per- 
sons choosing  hymns  will  be  personally  bound 
closer  to  the  meeting.  Furthermore,  some  will 
call  for  hymns  who  will  not  volunteer  to  pray 
audibly  or  testify,  and  anything  that  enlists 
a  new  voice  in  the  meeting,  even  in  a  small 
way,  is  worth  while. 

150.  Have  a  chorus  choir  in  your  prayer 
meeting.  If  possible,  let  it  be  composed  of 
children  and  young  people  who  do  not  sing  in 
the  regular  church  choir.  Do  not  form  a  close 
organization — rather  let  it  be  free  like  the 
gathering  of  young  people  around  the  fireside 
for  an  evening  of  song.    Your  service  will  be 

128 


PKAYER  MEETING  MUSIC 

helped  by  such  a  choir  in  three  ways :  the 
young  people  thus  recognized  will  be  bound 
closer  to  the  service;  their  singing  will  bless 
every  prayer  meeting  attendant;  and  the  par- 
ents of  the  singers,  gratified  at  the  recognition 
given  their  children  in  the  church,  will  take  a 
larger  interest  in  the  meeting.  If  after  a  few 
months  the  choir  members  begin  to  show  a 
hesitancy  about  entering  the  choir,  discontinue 
it  for  a  season.  The  members  will  thus  get  to 
enjoy  the  prayer  meeting  from  the  angle  of 
the  congregation.  When  the  time  is  ripe  call 
your  young  people  into  the  choir  again.  You 
will  find  them  ready  to  respond. 

151.  Congregational  singing  should  be  the 
rule.  This  is  preeminently  a  people's  service, 
and  this  is  one  way  in  which  that  fact  can  be 
emphasized.  Even  those  who  boast  that  they 
cannot  carry  a  tune  should  be  encouraged  to 
make  the  effort,  even  though  they  come  no 
nearer  than  merely  to  read.  When  the  stranger 
who  leaves  your  service  says,  "Everybody  sings 
in  that  prayer  meeting,"  he  has  paid  your  peo- 
ple a  fine  compliment  indeed, 

152.  Solos,  duets,  and  quartets  will  give 
variety  and  enrich  your  service.  Employ  chil- 
dren as  well  as  adults  in  this  manner.    None 

129 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

but  professing  Christians  should  render  special 
music  in  this  service,  and  they  should  not  be 
of  the  type  that,  having  i»endered  their  special 
part,  haste  away  to  their  easy-chairs  at  home 
or  to  some  social  gathering  elsewhere.  Folks 
who  sing  here  should  love  God  and  also  the 
prayer  meeting.  No  matter  how  beautifully 
they  sing,  the  other  kind  cannot  contribute 
much  to  the  spiritual  welfare  of  the  meeting, 
and  besides,  God's  praying  band  does  not  have 
to  be  patronized. 

153.  We  have  seasons  of  prayer  in  which 
several  prayers  are  offered  consecutively,  why 
not  have  seasons  of  song  after  the  same  man- 
ner? Without  interruption  sing  not  over  two 
stanzas  of  four  or  five  hymns.  The  fact  that 
song  follows  song  will  be  somewhat  different 
from  the  almost  universal  method  of  singing 
but  one  hymn  at  a  time. 

154.  Sing  antiphonally.  Many  hymns  and 
choruses  are  admirably  adapted  for  this  kind 
of  singing,  and  the  choir  makes  their  use 
ideally  possible.  If  there  be  no  choir  excellent 
results  can  be  obtained  by  dividing  the  com- 
pany into  two  sections  for  this  purpose. 

155.  Occasionally,  have  the  company  sing 
in  unison.    The  swelling  of  song  in  this  man- 

130 


PRAYER  MEETING  MUSIC 

ner  is  full  of  power,  and,  moreover,  possesses 
a  peculiar  charm, 

156.  The  Christian  Church  of  this  age  has 
the  song-book  habit.  We  open  the  book  and 
follow  the  page  while  we  sing  words  as  fa- 
miliar as  "We're  marching  to  Zion"  and  "A 
charge  to  keep  I  have."  It  is  worth  while, 
sometimes,  to  remind  ourselves  of  this  com- 
mon fault  and  to  break  away  from  it  for  a  few 
moments.  When  a  familiar  hymn  is  to  be 
sung,  ask  the  company  to  close  their  books, 
look  away  from  them,  open  their  mouths,  and 
sing  like  God's  birds.  And  they  wilL  If  you 
put  your  hymn  books  away  for  a  whole  evening 
and  sing  out  of  your  hearts,  you  will  have  a 
keener  appreciation  of  the  conditions  under 
which  God's  people  worshiped  in  the  days  be- 
fore hymn  books  came  into  vogue. 

157.  In  the  testimony  service,  and  occa- 
sionally in  other  parts  of  the  meeting,  do  not 
take  time  for  the  organist  to  hunt  the  music. 
The  reason  is  threefold :  As  a  rule  but  a  single 
stanza  or  chorus  should  be  sung  at  such  a  mo- 
ment, and  it  is  an  unprofitable  use  of  time  to 
spend  as  much  of  it  in  finding  the  selection  as 
is  used  in  its  singing;  again,  singing  without 
the  instrument  provides  opportunity  for  in- 

131 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

troducing  stanzas  and  choruses  not  found  in 
the  song  book  in  hand ;  and,  finally,  the  pause 
occasioned  by  place  hunting  breaks  into  the 
SAving  of  the  meeting.  If  the  organist  can 
catch  the  tune  on  the  fly  well  and  good ;  if  not, 
go  on  without  her.  She  will  take  no  offense. 
If  you  encourage  your  people  not  to  wait  for 
the  leader  or  chorister  to  start  all  the  choruses, 
but  to  improve  this  privilege  themselves,  your 
service  will  be  enriched  thereby.  When  you 
come  to  the  close  of  the  service,  announce  the 
hymn,  and  with  instrument  and  voices  give 
praise  to  God. 

158.  Have  an  Old- Hymn  Service.  Use  none 
but  old  hymns.  Line  them,  as  was  the  custom 
in  the  days  of  our  fathers,  and,  for  at  least  a 
part  of  them,  do  not  use  the  instrument.  En- 
list the  aged  members  of  your  company  to 
assist  in  the  selection  of  the  numbers,  pref- 
erably before  the  service.  They  have  been 
along  the  way  and  will  be  glad  to  bring  out  of 
their  other  years  the  hymns  that  brought  them 
and  their  fathers  help  and  inspiration. 

159.  Have  a  service  of  favorite  hymns.  Re- 
quest each  one  to  hand  in  a  slip  bearing  his 
own  name  and  the  number   of  his  favorite 

hymn  before  or  at  the  beginning  of  the  serv- 
132 


PRAYER  MEETING  MUSIC 

ice,  and,  when  you  are  ready  to  use  each  num- 
ber, announce  it  and  call  upon  the  one  whose 
favorite  it  is  to  give  the  reason  for  his  prefer- 
ence— mother  or  father  used  to  sing  it,  it  was 
sung  when  I  was  converted,  etc.,  etc.  Or,  if 
you  prefer,  do  not  use  the  slips,  but  let  each 
one  who  desires  to  have  his  favorite  hymn  sung 
announce  it  in  person.  If  your  prayer  meeting 
is  so  large  you  do  not  have  time  to  sing  all  the 
numbers  proposed,  sing  only  a  few  and  give 
the  remaining  hymns  a  place  by  having  those 
whose  favorites  they  are  select  and  read  a 
stanza.  Or,  if  there  be  not  time  enough  for 
this,  let  only  the  name  of  the  hymn  be  given. 
However,  always  have  those  who  respond  give 
the  reason  for  their  choice,  because  when  they 
do  so  they  make  a  personal  contribution  to 
the  meeting,  a  thing  to  be  encouraged  always. 
Ten  minutes  of  prayer  meetings  other  than 
those  announced  especially  for  this  service  can 
be  profitably  employed  in  this  exercise  in  its 
briefer  form. 

160.  Occasionally,  in  seasons  of  prayer,  sing 
softly  a  "knee  hymn,"  that  is,  a  hymn  of  sur- 
render, of  consecration,  or  of  petition.  To  do 
so  is  always  appropriate  and  will  be  found 
especially  helpful  in  carrying  the  service  in 

133 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

moments  when  volunteers  hesitate.  The 
bowed  bodies,  the  grand  hymn,  the  sweet  soft 
music,  the  looking  into  God's  face — all  these 
conspire  to  touch  and  move  the  heart,  they 
kindle  the  fires  of  devotion.  Such  hymns 
should  not  be  announced  by  number,  nor 
should  the  spirit  of  prayer  be  broken  into  by 
place  hunting  in  hymn  books.  Use  only  fa- 
miliar hymns,  hymns  out  of  the  heart  and  out 
of  the  life,  hymns  that  become  for  the  singers 
really  prayers  because  they  have  made  them 
truly  their  oa;\ti.  To  avoid  the  constant  use 
of  two  or  three  the  leader  should  have  at  his 
command  several  of  the  many  suitable  for  such 
use.  The  following  list,  which  makes  no  pre- 
tension to  completeness,  is  yet  full  enough  to 
guarantee  the  leader  who  makes  use  of  it 
against  repetitious  choice: 

Take  my  life  and  let  It  be. 

Just  as  I  am,  without  one  plea. 

Saviour,  more  than  life  to  me. 
Chorus:  Every  day,  every  hour. 

Lord  Jesus,  I  long  to  be  perfectly  whole. 

Chorus:  Whiter  than  snow,  whiter  than  snow. 

My  Jesus,  I  love  thee. 

I  am  coming  to  the  cross. 
Chorus:  I  am  trusting.  Lord,  in  thee. 
134 


PRAYER  MEETING  MUSIC 

Lord,  I  hear  of  showers  of  blessing. 
Chorus:  Even  me,  even  me. 

My  faith  looks  up  to  thee. 

I  hear  thy  welcome  voice. 
Chorus:    /  am  coming,  Lord. 

Alas!     And  did  my  Saviour  bleed? 

Chorus:  Help  me,  dear  Saviour,  thee  to  own. 

I  am  coming  to  Jesus  for  rest. 
Chorus:  I  believe  Jesus  saves. 

Nearer,  my  God,  to  thee. 

Jesus,  my  Lord,  to  thee  I  cry. 
Chorus:   Take  me  as  I  am. 

There  is  a  name  I  love  to  hear. 
Chorus:   Oh,  how  I  love  Jesus  I 

Holy  Spirit,  faithful  guide. 

All  to  Jesus  I  surrender. 
Chorus:  I  surrender  all. 

I  can  hear  my  Saviour  calling. 
Chorus:   Where  he  leads  me  I  will  follow. 

161.  It  is  well,  at  times,  to  read  a  hymn. 
Any  one  of  several  methods  may  be  used:  An 
individual  may  read  it,  or  several  persons  may 
do  so,  each  taking  a  verse.  Those  who  may 
not  have  used  their  voices  alone  in  the  meet- 
ing may  be  enlisted  to  take  part  in  this  way, 
and  becoming  accustomed  to  hearing  their 
voices  in  the  congregation,  be  emboldened  to 
take  up  their  privilege  as  to  prayer  and  testi- 

135 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

mony;  selected  groups,  by  age,  by  sex,  or  by 
sections  of  seats,  may  read  it;  the  choir  may 
do  it ;  or  the  company  and  leader  may  read  re- 
sponsively  or  in  unison.  Do  not  always  sing 
the  hymn  after  reading  it. 

162.  Study  the  great  hymns.  A  word  of 
comment  by  the  leader  upon  a  hymn,  its  mean- 
ing, some  incident  relative  to  it,  or  the  life 
and  work  of  its  author,  will  be  helpful.  If  it 
is  desired  to  enlarge  this  phase  of  the  service, 
assign  topics  covering  the  points  indicated 
above  to  members  for  special  preparation  rela- 
tive to  some  selected  hymn  and  allow  longer 
time  for  their  presentation.  A  larger  appre- 
ciation of  the  hymns  of  the  church  by  everyone 
present  will  surely  follow. 

163.  A  Scripture  reading  upon  "Song"  will 
enrich  either  the  old-hymn  or  the  favorite- 
hymn  service. 

164.  When  you  buy  a  hymn  book  different 
from  the  one  you  have  been  using,  do  not  dis- 
pose of  the  old  books.  Keep  them  where  you 
can  get  them  whenever  wanted.  Occasionally 
use  them  for  an  evening  instead  of  the  books 
you  use  regularly.  For  the  people  to  have 
them  in  their  hands  will  be  like  touching  old 
friends.     Moreover,  it  is  likely  that  they  con- 

136 


PEAYER  MEETING  MUSIC 

tain  hymns  not  to  be  found  in  the  new  book, 
hymns  the  singing  of  which  will  not  only  give 
variety  to  the  service  of  song,  but  will  also 
call  forth  happy  memories  of  other  days  which 
will  lift  and  cheer. 

165.  Once  in  a  while  do  this  good  thing: 
While  your  women  sing  a  chorus  have  your 
men  whistle  it.  Why  not?  Dear  Brother 
Formality  may  be  greatly  shocked.  Never 
mind.  Just  keep  sweet  and  go  on.  God  has 
not  said  it  is  "wicked  to  whistle  in  church.  The 
truth  is,  the  women  of  our  households  sing 
and  the  men  whistle  the  same  tune ;  the  women 
bring  their  song  to  church,  and  the  men,  when 
they  come,  must  leave  their  whistle  outside. 
Let  us  reform.  Have  the  men  bring  their 
whistle  in.  It  is  just  as  religious  to  whistle 
as  it  is  to  sing,  provided  you  whistle  the  right 
tune,  and  prayer  meeting  tunes  are,  or  should 
be,  right.  Women's  singing  and  men's  whis- 
tling combined  make  fine  music.  The  lads  in 
the  meeting  will  like  it,  of  course,  and  other 
folks  too,  and  even  Dear  Brother  Formality 
will  have  to  admit,  after  a  few  happy  oc- 
casions, that  "it  sounds  pretty  good." 


137 


CHAPTER  X 
SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 


Paragraph 

166.  Why  valuable? 

167-171.  Resurrection  Prayer  Meeting. 

172-179.  Patriotic  Prayer  Meeting. 

180-184.  Labor  Day  Prayer  Meeting. 

185-190.  Thanksgiving   Prayer   Meeting. 

191-196.  Christmas   Prayer  Meeting. 

197-202.  Old  Year-New  Year  Prayer  Meeting. 

203,  204.  Tithing  Prayer  Meeting. 

205-210.  Educational    Prayer   Meeting. 

211-214.  Temperance  Prayer  Meeting. 

215-219.  Missionary  Prayer  Meeting. 

220.  Other  benevolent  causes. 

221-223.  Organization   Prayer  Meeting. 

224,  225.  Our  comrades  of  other  days. 

226.  When  the  former  pastor  returns. 

227-230.  The  Agape,  or  Love  Feast 


CHAPTER  X 

Special  Prayer  Meetings 

"If  two  of  you  shall  agree  on  earth  as  touching 
anything/' — Matthew  18.  19. 

166.  Special  prayer  meetings  are  valuable 
for  three  reasons:  (1)  they  are  something 
different,  something  out  of  the  ordinary,  and, 
consequently,  aid  in  securing  variety;  (2) 
they  require  special  preparation ;  and  ( 3 )  they 
command  larger  interest  and  thus  draw  some 
to  the  prayer  meeting  who  would  not  be  at- 
tracted by  the  ordinary  service.  Herewith  are 
submitted  suggestions  for  such  services  under 
fifteen  different  heads;  and,  in  view  of  the 
abundant  material  available,  these  sugges- 
tions can  find  expression  in  literally  dozens  of 
special  meetings. 

resurrection  prayer  meeting 

167.  Have  this  prayer  meeting  Easter  morn-' 
"ing  at  sunrise. 

168.  Beautify  the  room  with  flowers. 

169.  Let  song  and  testimony  and  prayer 
throb  with  praise.    Have  special  music. 

141 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

170.  Let  the  Scripture  lesson  deal  with  the 
resurrection  story.  Carry  spices  with  the 
women  in  the  early  morn ;  run  with  Peter  and 
John  to  the  sepulcher;  go  in  with  Peter  and 
then  with  John  and  see  where  the  Lord  lay, 
and  note  the  folded  napkin ;  stand  with  weep- 
ing Mary  while  she  learns  that  he  whom  she 
considers  the  gardener  is  Jesus;  and  walk 
with  the  disciples  along  the  road  to  Emmaus. 
Let  Paul  preach  about  this  wondrous  event 
( 1  Cor.  15 ) .  Relate  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
to  himself,  to  his  immediate  disciples,  and  to 
his  kingdom  in  all  the  ages.  Sermon  after 
sermon  is  here,  too  much  for  one  meeting,  in 
truth,  but  enough  of  it  should  be  appropriated 
to  give  all  a  deeper  sense  of  the  reality  of  the 
resurrection  and  a  fuller  realization  of  its 
benefits. 

171.  Before  you  go  forth,  gather  about  the 
altar  and  consecrate  yourselves  anew  to  Him 
who  is  "alive  for  evermore." 

PATRIOTIC   PRAYER   MEETING 

172.  Love  of  country  and  country's  flag  is 
a  noble  virtue.  To  perpetuate  the  good  name, 
the  blessing  and  honor  of  both  is  an  ambition 
worthy  of  holy  men.     In  the  realization  of 

142 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

such  an  ambition  both  wrong  and  right  must 
be  recognized;  the  one  must  be  forsaken  and 
confessed,  the  other  rallied  about  and  main- 
tained; and,  all  the  while,  God  must  be  put 
first,  because  to  do  so  is  to  recognize  and  act 
upon  the  scriptural  affirmation,  "Blessed  is 
the  nation  whose  God  is  the  Lord." 

173.  What  better  place  to  do  this  than  the 
prayer  meeting,  and  what  better  time  to  do 
it  in  a  special  way  than  the  regular  prayer 
service  just  preceding  the  anniversary  of  the 
nation's  natal  day? 

174.  Place  the  flag  in  your  place  of  prayer. 

175.  Have  special  music. 

176.  Do  not  forget  the  nation's  past. 

177.  Face  squarely  the  nation's  present 
perils,  and  note  her  points  of  excellence  and 
strength. 

178.  Build  an  ideal  for  the  nation's  future, 
note  the  part  you  as  a  company  should  have 
in  helping  to  realize  it,  and  accept  it. 

179.  Then  pray. 

LABOR   DAY   PRAYER   MEETING 

180.  The  regular  prayer  meeting  immedi- 
ately preceding  Labor  Day,  the  first  Monday 
in  September  of  each  year,  may  very  appro- 

143 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

priately  be  observed  as  Labor  Day  Prayer 
Meeting.  The  toiling  masses  are  estranged 
from  the  church,  they  tell  us,  but  we  are  loath 
to  consider  the  declaration  so  true  as  some 
would  have  us  believe.  At  any  rate  it  vdW  be 
well  to  pray  about  it,  that  the  conscience  of 
the  church  may  be  quickened  concerning  her 
duty  and  that  the  heart  of  the  toiler  may 
become  more  responsive  to  his  privilege. 

181.  Assign  appropriate  topics  to  compe- 
tent persons  for  short  discussion;  consider 
vocational  problems,  those  of  the  lawyer,  rail- 
road man,  doctor,  printer,  etc. ;  and  make  the 
matter  personal  by  such  themes  as,  "Has  Our 
Church  a  Welcome  for  the  Laboring  Man?" 
a.nd,  "What  Can  We  as  Toilers  Do  to  Win  Our 
Fellows  to  Jesus?" 

182.  If  a  representative  of  labor  competent 
to  speak,  and  who  is  also  a  believer  in  the  prac- 
tice and  power  of  prayer,  is  available,  invite 
him  to  present  the  evening's  theme. 

,183.  When  you  pray  remember  not  only  the 
toiler  but  also  his  employer,  who,  while  he 
may  not  carry  a  load  in  his  hands,  may  carry 
a  greater  one  in  his  heart,  and  may  for  that 
reason  have  the  greater  need  of  help  from  on 
high. 

144 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

184.  The  leader  should  so  shape  the  meet- 
ing that  the  company  ever  after  should  recog- 
nize in  all  toilers,  whether  rich  or  poor,  not 
persons  to  be  patronized,  but  brothers  indeed 
who  are  worthy  of  and  should  receive  the  glad 
hand  of  welcome  to  their  rightful  place  in 
the  church  of  the  toiling  Christ. 

THANKSGIVING  PRAYER  MEETING 

185.  The  prayer  meeting  upon  or  just  pre- 
ceding the  annual  national  Thanksgiving 
occasion  provides  the  most  suitable  time  for 
this  service. 

186.  Decorations  of  fruits  and  flowers  from 
field,  garden,  and  home  will  be  beautiful  re- 
minders of  the  goodness  of  God  during  the 
year  and  give  occasion  for  larger  gratitude. 

187.  Let  the  Scripture  lesson,  the  topics  to 
be  discussed,  and  the  hymns  all  be  in  accord 
with  the  spirit  of  the  occasion. 

188.  Invite  the  company  to  bring  clippings 
upon  "Thanksgiving"  to  be  read  by  them  in 
the  service. 

189.  In  the  testimony  service  let  each  one 
tell  at  least  one  definite  thing  for  which  he  or 
she  is  grateful. 

190.  The  prayers  should  be  glad  with  praise, 

145 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

and,  before  you  go,  as  a  supreme  expression 
of  your  gratitude,  give  yourselves  anew  to  the 
great  Giver  of  all  good. 

CHRISTMAS   PRAYER   MEETING 

191.  Hold  this  service  just  before  Christmas. 

192.  Decorate  with  evergreen,  holly,  and 
mistletoe. 

193.  The  Scripture  lesson,  whether  from 
prophecy,  Gospel,  or  Epistle,  should  exalt  the 
manger  Babe. 

194.  The  following  or  similar  subjects  will 
lead  to  a  larger  appreciation  of  Jesus :  "The 
Babe  in  Prophecy,"  "God's  Supreme  Gift," 
"The  Angels  and  the  Shepherds,"  "The  Wise 
Men,"  "Bethlehem,"  "The  Babyhood  of  Jesus," 
and  "Jesus  and  the  Little  Children."  These 
will  lead  to  a  larger  appreciation  of  to-day's 
privilege  and  duty:  "The  Children  of  the 
Heathen,"  "Home  Influences  and  the  Child," 
"Children  in  the  Factories,"  "Children  in  the 
Slums,"  "The  Orphan  Child,"  "Our  Duty  to 
the  Child,"  and  "Gifts  We  Should  Give." 

195.  Let  there  be  words  of  praise,  Christmas 
songs  and  carols,  and  special  music,  preferably 
by  young  people. 

196.  Worship  Him  who  "was  made  flesh," 

146 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

and,  like  the  wise  men  of  old,  bring  j^our 
choicest,  your  richest  gifts,  and  lay  them  at 
his  feet. 

OLD  YEAR — NEW  YEAR  PRAYER  MEETING 

197.  Let  this  prayer  meeting  be  either  the 
last  regular  one  before  the  close  of  the  old, 
or  the  first  one  at  the  beginning  of  the  new 
year.  Or,  if  desired,  the  suggestions  following 
may  answer  for  two  separate  meetings,  by 
using  those  relating  to  the  old  year  in  the  last, 
and  those  relating  to  the  new  year  in  the  first 
prayer  meeting  of  the  year. 

198.  Give  a  part  of  the  service  to  retro- 
spection. Recount  the  trials  of  the  year  gone 
by.  Acknowledge  mistakes.  Confess  wrongs. 
Set  forth  new  truths  learned.  Note  progress 
in  holy  living.    Praise  God  for  triumphs  won. 

199.  Let  the  coming  year  pass  in  prospect. 
Contemplate  the  work  to  be  done,  its  nearness, 
its  proportions,  its  urgency.  Measure  the 
strength  of  the  enemy.  Face  duty  and  privi- 
lege. 

200.  The  leader  may  facilitate  these  discus- 
sions by  proposing  such  topics  as  these :  "The 
Past  Year's  Failures,"  "The  Past  Year's  Suc- 
cesses," "What  Help  May  We  Gain  from  Our 

147 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

Failures?"  "What  Help  May  We  Gain  from 
Our  Successes?"  "Lost  Opportunities,"  "How 
May  We  Improve  the  Time?"  "Some  Soul 
Enemies  We  May  Meet,"  and  "What  is  Our 
Supreme  Duty  the  Coming  Year?" 

201.  In  closing  let  the  old  year  and  the  new 
year  be  w^edded  in  a  consecration  service  that 
leaves  the  past  with  its  failures  and  successes, 
its  defeats  and  its  victories,  in  the  hands  of 
Jesus,  while  it  gives  every  heart  without  re- 
serve to  him,  that,  cleansed  by  his  blood  and 
filled  with  his  Spirit,  they  may  be  used  by  him 
for  his  glory. 

202.  Then,  arising,  sing  Charles  Wesley's 
great  hymn,  "Come,  let  us  anew  our  journey 
pursue,"  and  go  forth  to  the  privilege  of  life 
again. 

TITHING  PRAYER  MEETING 

203.  As  a  rule  those  who  attend  the  prayer 
meeting  are  persons  who,  when  they  are  made 
acquainted  with  the  will  of  God,  are  ready 
to  do  it.  Consequently  this  service  provides 
large  opportunity  for  advancing  the  cause  of 
scriptural  giving. 

204.  Four  things  should  enter  into  this  meet- 
ing: 

148 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

(1)  The  Scripture  bearing  upon  the  subject  of 
Christian  stewardship  should  be  presented.  The  mate- 
rial is  so  abundant  that  its  adequate  presentation  will 
require  many  evenings. 

(2)  Opportunity  should  be  given  to  those  who  have 
practiced  tithing  to  relate  their  experience.  The  Scrip- 
tures relating  to  this  subject  will  thus  be  illustrated 
and  enforced  by  living  witnesses. 

(3)  Opportunity  should  also  be  given  to  those  who 
wish  to  enroll  themselves  with  "The  Tithers."  To  this 
end  let  cards  similar  to  the  following  be  distributed: 


I  hereby  enroll  myself 

among 

THE  TITHERS 


Of,  if  you  prefer,  use  Jacob's  pledge: 


Of  all  that  thou  shalt  give  me  I  will  surely 
give  the  tenth  unto  thee. — Gen.  28.  22. 


After  time  has  been  given  for  signing,  collect  the  cards 
and  enroll  the  names  in.  a  book  kept  for  that  purpose. 
If  those  who  sign  desire  cards  to  keep,  provide  them 
with  duplicates.  If  cards  are  not  available  the  leader 
may  write  the  pledge  upon  the  blackboard  and  dis- 
tribute blank  slips  for  the  signatures  with  the  under- 
149 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

standing  that  each  one  who  signs  desires  his  name  en- 
rolled. Do  not  seek  to  obligate  the  signers  as  to  any 
detail  of  time,  place,  or  method  of  payment;  be  content 
to  have  won  them  to  the  acceptance  of  a  great  principle. 
Let  details  follow. 

(4)  To  equip  those  who  enroll  themselves  with 
ready  material  for  further  study  and  for  use  among 
others,  to  provide  those  who  do  not  see  their  way  clear 
to  sign  at  once  with  means  for  further  investigation, 
and  to  arm  the  veterans  of  this  good  way  for  new 
conquests,  let  literature  relating  to  this  subject  be  dis- 
tributed at  the  close  of  the  service. 

EDUCATIONAL   PRAYER   MEETING 

205.  In  this  day  when  the  churches  are  more 
and  more  appreciating  the  benefits  of  educa- 
tion and  are  realizing  as  never  before  the  im- 
portance of  providing  for  its  dissemination 
under  distinctively  Christian  influences,  and 
are,  moreover,  giving  larger  gifts  of  time, 
thought,  and  money  for  the  attainment  of  that 
end,  it  is  quite  fitting  that  the  prayer  meeting 
be  enlisted  in  this  cause. 

206.  The  colors  and  pennants  of  your  own 
church  school  may  very  appropriately  adorn 
the  w  alls  of  your  prayer  meeting  room  for  this 
evening. 

207.  For  special  music,  if  you  have  college 
young  people  who  can  do  it,  have  them  sing  a 
college  hymn. 

150 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

208.  Let  persons  who  have  been  given  the 
topics  beforehand  discuss  three  or  four  of  the 
following,  or  others  germane  to  the  subject, 
four  or  five  minutes  each:  "Why  Should  We 
Pray  for  Our  Church  Schools?"  "Our  Own 
Church  School,"  "The  Problem  of  the 
Teacher,"  "The  Problem  of  the  Pupil,"  "The 
Educational  Opportunity  of  Our  Young  Peo- 
ple," "Our  Pviblic  Schools,"  "The  Schools  and 
Religion,"  "The  Bible  in  the  School,"  "Why 
I  Went  to  College?"  "Why  I  am  Going  to  Col- 
lege?" and  "Educating  One's  Self  Outside  of 
College." 

209.  When  you  pray  remember  in  a  particu- 
lar way  the  academy,  college,  or  university  the 
company  is  or  should  be  vitally  interested  in, 
and,  of  course,  you  will  not  forget  to  pray  for 
the  public  schools,  bulwark  of  Protestantism, 
their  officers,  teachers,  and  pupils,  remember- 
ing, also,  the  citizenship  which  supports  them. 

210.  Have  this  prayer  meeting  before  the 
young  folks  go  away  to  college.  At  the  close 
invite  them  forward  and  have  everybody  ex- 
tend the  hand  of  well-wishing  and  farewell. 
This  will  give  a  happy  memory  to  cheer  the 
college  boy  and  girl  in  moments  of  homesick- 
ness, and  will  inspire  others  of  the  young  peo- 

151 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

pie  with  a  desire  to  make  use  of  the  same 
opportunity. 

TEMPERANCE  PRAYER  MEETING 

211.  The  battle  against  strong  drink  has  not 
yet  reached  the  stage  where  it  does  not  need 
the  might  of  prayer.  But  mighty  praying  is 
always  based  upon  knowledge.  Men  who  know 
conditions  and  needs,  men  who  know  resources 
— these  may  effectually  pray.  Information 
and  prayer — let  these  occupy  a  large  place 
here. 

212.  The  information  may  be  provided  by 
the  leader  or  by  one  or  several  appointed  by 
him.  But  whoever  brings  the  message — it  is 
not  worth  while  to  suggest  topics  here,  they 
stand  out  everywhere — should  pour  facts  into 
the  meeting,  not  facts  vague  and  indefinite, 
but  particular  and  incisive  and  fresh,  facts 
concerning  friend  and  foe,  facts  from  far  and 
near,  facts  to  think  over,  facts  to  weep  over, 
facts  to  shout  over,  facts  to  pray  over. 

213.  When  you  have  the  facts  then  to  your 
knees.  Pray  like  men  on  the  eve  of  battle. 
Pray  till  the  fire  burns  and  you  know  heaven 
has  heard.  Then,  baptized  from  above,  go 
forth  into  the  to-morrows  to  strike  such  blows, 

152 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

with  voice  and  pen  and  vote,  in  public  and 
private,  as  shall  hasten  the  ultimate  triumph 
of  this  mighty  reform. 

214.  The  prayer  meeting  preceding  a  con- 
test relative  to  this  subject  in  which  the  prayer 
meeting  attendants  are  to  participate  provides 
a  specially  opportune  time  for  this  service. 

MISSIONARY  PRAYER  MEETING 

215.  Since  the  true  church  is  a  missionary 
church,  the  true  prayer  meeting  must  be  mis- 
sionary also.  The  material  to  be  presented  is 
so  abundant  and  varied  as  to  make  a  monthly 
missionary  service  both  interesting  and  profit- 
able. Missions  in  the  abstract  should  have 
little  place  here;  but  missions  in  the  concrete 
should  bulk  large.  Accordingly,  the  distin- 
guishing feature  of  this  service  should  be  the 
presentation  of  the  field.  This  lays  the  basis 
for  intelligent  praying  and  gives  inspiration 
for  larger  doing. 

216.  The  mission  field  is  so  large  and  new 
material  is  continually  being  provided  in  such 
abundance  that  the  author,  instead  of  present- 
ing ready-made  programs,  which,  of  necessity, 
could  deal  with  only  a  portion  of  the  vast  prob- 
lem, submits  three  methods  by  which  all  fields 

153 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

may  be  presented  and  the  very  latest  informa- 
tion utilized.  The  continuous  use  of  any  par- 
ticular one  of  these  methods  should  be  avoided : 

(1)  The  individual  method.  If  some  missionary  from 
the  field  or  other  person  specially  qualified  to  speak  is 
available,  it  will  be  well  to  have  him  present  the  sub- 
ject. In  the  absence  of  such  help  let  the  leader,  who 
has  mastered  the  subject  completely,  out  of  a  full  heart 
press  the  truth  home. 

(2)  The  company  method.  In  this  method  let  the 
leader  prepare  as  for  the  individual  method,  but  let 
him  announce  the  subject  the  week  before  with  the 
request  that  the  entire  company  also  prepare  upon  it 
and  be  ready  to  contribute  at  least  some  part,  though 
It  be  only  a  single  fact,  to  the  discussion.  With  the 
blackboard,  map,  or  chart  in  plain  view  of  all,  let  the 
leader  by  questions  direct  the  course  of  the  comment 
and  discussion  by  eliciting  answers  as  to  the  land,  its 
location,  topography,  climate,  and  production;  the 
people,  their  race,  political  history,  social  customs,  edu- 
cation, morals,  religion;  and  the  missionary  enter- 
prises of  the  field,  with  especial  reference  to  the  par- 
ticular one  it  is  desired  to  lay  upon  the  hearts  of  the 
company. 

(3)  The  assignment  method.  By  this  plan  the  leader 
assigns  topics  relating  to  the  theme  to  selected  persons 
who  come  to  the  meeting  prepared  to  report  upon  them. 
This  method  lays  the  responsibility  of  a  larger  contri- 
bution upon  the  few,  while  the  company  method  lays 
the  privilege  of  a  small  contribution  to  the  meeting 
upon  many,  even  upon  all.     Both  have  their  place. 

217.  Brief  quotations  from  current  litera- 

154 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

ture,  personal  letters  from  missionaries  in  the 
field,  pictures  illustrating  the  land  under  con- 
sideration, its  people,  the  mission  property 
and  the  missionary,  the  flag  of  the  country, 
and  curios  illustrating  the  life  and  customs  of 
the  people,  should  always  be  welcomed. 

218.  Let  the  prayers  cling  around  the  par- 
ticular field  under  consideration, 

219.  Do  not  hesitate  to  distribute  mission- 
ary literature  at  the  close  of  the  service. 

OTHER  BENEVOLENT  CAUSES 

220.  It  is  fitting  to  discuss  not  only  the  mis- 
sionary cause  in  the  prayer  meeting,  but  all 
other  benevolent  enterprises  of  the  church  as 
well.  The  principles  outlined  above  under  the 
head  of  the  Missionary  Prayer  Meeting  can  be 
so  readily  adapted  to  the  presentation  of  any 
other  cause  as  to  require  no  further  treatment 
here. 

ORGANIZATION  PRAYER  MEETING 

221.  The  different  organizations  of  the 
church,  such  as  the  Sunday  school,  the  young 
people's  society,  the  Brotherhood,  the  Ladies' 
Aid  Society,  etc.,  Tvdll  appreciate  an  oppor- 
tunity to  occasionally  have  charge  of  the  mid- 
week service  of  the  church. 

155 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

222.  Upon  such  occasions  the  society  in 
charge  should  be  responsible  for  the  major 
part  of  the  program,  which,  besides  providing 
opportunity  for  prayer,  should  seek  to  ac- 
quaint the  hearers  with  the  history,  methods, 
and  work  of  the  society,  the  leader  merely 
opening  the  service  briefly,  and,  in  the  end, 
closing  it  in  a  manner  appropriate  to  the  occa- 
sion. 

223.  The  advantages  of  the  organization 
prayer  meeting  are  three :  ( 1 )  members  of  the 
company  not  members  of  the  organization  will 
appreciate  more  fully  the  object  of  the  organi- 
zation and  the  efforts  of  its  members,  and, 
accordingly,  will  be  led  to  give  larger  sym- 
pathy, and,  as  opportunity  may  afford,  more 
hearty  cooperation,  (2)  the  membership  of  the 
organization  will  be  drawn  into  closer  touch 
with  the  prayer  meeting,  and  (3)  the  special 
interest  engendered  will  mean  special  invita- 
tions which  will  most  surely  enlist  others  in 
the  midweek  service. 

OUR   COMRADES   OF   OTHER   DAYS 

224.  Toil  in  the  service  of  Jesus  binds  the 
toilers  in  one  of  earth's  sweetest  relationships ; 
and,  as  years  come  and  go,  so  the  toilers.  There 

156 


SPECIAL  PRAYER  MEETINGS 

is  no  prayer  meeting  but  has  its  absent  ones, 
some  who  will  never  come  back.  To  mention 
the  names  of  this  "cloud  of  witnesses"  is  to 
crowd  the  memories  of  their  former  fellow 
workers  with  strange  and  blessed  emotion; 
while  to  recount  their  words  and  deeds  is  to 
incite  all  to  larger  endeavor  in  holy  living. 

225.  Have  a  volunteer  service.  Let  those 
who  will,  arise  one  by  one,  and,  naming  a 
former  comrade,  relate  some  incident  in  his 
life,  a  struggle,  a  passion,  a  hope,  a  victory,  or 
bring  anew  some  word  of  his,  not  using  more 
than  two  or  three  minutes.  Under  such  recital 
hearts  will  soften  as  with  sweet  benedictions. 
Then  go  to  prayer.  Pray  for  the  absent  ones 
who  are  still  fighting  the  good  fight  of  faith  in 
the  church  militant  and  dedicate  yourselves  to 
the  unfinished  work  of  those  who  have  entered 
into  the  fellowship  of  the  church  triumphant. 

WHEN  THE  FORMER  PASTOR  RETURNS 

226.  When  a  former  pastor  is  present  in  the 
prayer  meeting  have  him  read  the  Scripture 
lesson  and  make  the  evening's  address,  using 
whatever  time  he  may  choose.  At  the  close  of 
Ms  remarks  have  all  who  were  in  the  church 
or  community  at  the  time  of  his  pastorate  indi- 

157 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

cate  the  same  by  the  uplifted  hand,  or,  pref- 
erably, by  standing.  This  definitely  marks 
off  the  part  of  the  company  who  should  have 
right  of  way  in  the  meeting.  State  clearly 
that  no  others  should  speak  and  open  the  meet- 
ing for  the  ex-pastor's  acquaintances.  The 
testimonies  naturally  will  be  reminiscent. 
They  will  bless  the  former  pastor  as  he  hears 
of  seed  sown,  perhaps  in  discouragement,  com- 
ing to  rich  fruitage ;  those  who  speak  will  have 
their  own  hearts  settled  in  the  faith ;  while  the 
listening  company  will  share  in  the  blessing 
of  it  all.  When  these  are  done,  should  there  be 
time,  let  others  speak.  At  the  close  have  a 
general  handshake  so  that  old  acquaintances 
may  meet  again  and  that  the  new  members 
may  make  the  acquaintance  of  another  man 
of  God  into  whose  labors  they  have  entered. 

THE  AGAPE^  OR  LOVE  FEAST 

227.  The  agape  of  the  early  Christian 
Church,  once  quite  generally  observed  by  our 
fathers  under  the  name  of  "Love  Feast,"  has 
in  most  places  been  dispensed  with,  so  that 
multitudes  who  love  God  do  not  even  know 
what  such  a  service  is  like.  The  prayer  meet- 
ing provides  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the 

158 


SPECIAL  PKAYER  MEETINGS 

reestablishment  of  this  beautiful  service, 
which,  though  not  a  sacrament,  is  worthy  to 
be  perpetuated. 

228.  Let  it  be  observed  just  before  or  after 
the  communion. 

229.  Provide  bread  as  for  the  sacrament, 
and  water ;  and,  after  the  opening  exercises  of 
song,  prayer,  and  Scripture  reading,  let  the 
class  leaders  or  other  officers  of  the  church, 
the  company  remaining  seated,  distribute  them 
to  all  who  are  minded  to  receive  them,  having 
it  understood  that  they  who  partake  give  token 
by  that  act  of  the  love  they  bear  to  all  others. 
During  the  distribution  let  some  devotional 
hymns  be  sung  softly.  After  the  distribution 
open  the  meeting  for  an  extended  testimony 
service  and  make  it  a  real  "experience  meet- 
ing" where  those  who  speak  (using,  if  they 
desire,  more  time  than  is  commonly  accorded) 
may  relate  the  story  of  their  surrender,  their 
conversion,  their  consecration,  their  sanctifi- 
cation;  their  trials,  heart  wanderings,  their 
backslidings  and  restorations;  their  soul 
struggles  and  soul  triumphs.  Intersperse  the 
service  with  song.  Here  is  a  time  and  place, 
fitting  indeed  to  employ  the  old-time  class 
meeting  method  mentioned  in  paragraph  132. 

159 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PEAYER  MEETING 

Call  upon  each  by  name  to  speak,  and  after 
each  one  is  done,  take  him  by  the  hand  and 
quote  an  appropriate  verse  of  Scripture,  or 
give  some  word  of  counsel  or  exhortation  suit- 
able to  his  case. 

230.  Those  who  make  use  of  it  Tvill  find  this 
old-time  service  still  charged  with  old-time 
power. 


160 


CHAPTER  XI 
SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 


Paeageaph 

231. 

Their  place. 

232. 

The  census. 

233. 

Topic  cards. 

234. 

Ushers. 

235. 

Collection. 

236. 

Post  office. 

237. 

Discuss  church  affairs. 

238,  239. 

Question  drawer. 

240. 

"Quiz"  period. 

241. 

Book  review. 

242. 

Biography. 

243. 

Devotional  literature. 

244. 

The  absent  leader. 

245-247. 

Letter  Committee. 

248. 

Prayer  Meeting  Committee. 

249. 

Volunteers. 

250. 

Union  prayer  meeting. 

251. 

Prison  and  other  prayer  meetings. 

252. 

Recitation. 

253. 

Creed  and  Catechism. 

254. 

Prayer  list. 

255,  256. 

Memory  work. 

257-260. 

Prayer  Meeting  Scrapbook. 

261. 

The  church  paper. 

262. 

Printing. 

CHAPTER  XI 

Some  Other  Things  Worth  While 
^^All  tilings  to  all  men/' — 1  Corinthians  9.  22. 

231.  What  the  seven  primary  colors  are  to 
painting,  the  seven  tones  of  the  octave  are  to 
music,  and  the  digits  are  to  mathematics, 
prayer,  Scripture,  song,  and  testimony  are  to 
the  prayer  meeting.  They  are  fundamental. 
As  in  painting,  music,  and  mathematics,  so 
here,  the  shifting  of  the  fundamentals,  the 
omission  of  one  or  more  of  them,  and  the 
changing  of  emphasis  upon  them  give  endless 
variety.  But  as  in  painting,  music,  and 
mathematics  other  things  complement  and 
complete  the  fundamentals,  so  in  the  prayer 
meeting  there  are  other  things  which  may, 
directly  or  indirectly,  further  enrich  the  serv- 
ice; and  the  leader  who  desires  to  excel  does 
not  hesitate  to  employ  them  when  opportunity 
presents  and  wisdom  directs. 

THE  CENSUS 

232.  It  is  very  important  to  keep  a  record 
of   prayer   meeting   attendance.      (See   para- 

163 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

graphs  10-14,  66,  and  71. )  In  prayer  meetings 
whose  attendance  is  not  over  fifty  the  leader 
may  easily  ascertain  by  glancing  over  the  com- 
pany during  a  song  how  many  are  present,  but 
when  more  than  that  number  come  he  will 
very  likely  find  this  method  distracting.  In 
the  latter  case  appoint  as  many  tellers  as  you 
have  sections  of  seats,  and  just  before  the 
benediction  let  each  report  his  section.  Then 
add.  Or,  if  preferred,  appoint  a  secretary  who 
shall  count  the  company  quietly  when  and  in 
such  manner  as  he  may  choose.  In  every  case 
announce  the  attendance  at  the  close  of  the 
service,  and  keep  a  permanent  record  of  the 
same. 

TOPIC  CARDS 

233.  If  you  prepare  topics  for  a  quarter,  six 

months,  or  a  year,  or  use  those  prepared  by 

others,  it  is  well  to  have  them  neatly  printed. 

Distribute  the  cards  not  only  at  the  beginning 

of  the  period,  but  also  at  frequent  intervals 

afterward,  for  the  twofold  reason  that  new 

attendants  are  continually  coming  into  the 

service  and  that  some  persist  in  losing  their 

cards. 

164 


SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 
USHERS 

234.  Provide  your  prayer  meeting  with 
ushers.  Even  though  there  be  plenty  of  seats 
available  yet  the  kindly  service  of  an  usher  is 
a  beautiful  courtesy,  one  especially  appre- 
ciated by  the  stranger  who  may  enter  your 
gates.  Appoint  young  men  to  this  of&ce;  the 
training  they  receive  will  prepare  them  for 
like  service  later  in  the  great  congregation. 

COLLECTION 

235.  Perhaps  your  prayer  meeting  company, 
as  such,  has  never  had  an  opportunity  to  exer- 
cise itself  along  the  practical  lines  of  Chris- 
tian stewardship;  that  is,  your  people  have 
never  given  anything  so  that  they  can  say, 
"Our  prayer  meeting  gave"  the  money  to  fur- 
nish a  room  in  the  hospital,  to  provide  a  strug- 
gling Sunday  school  \\dth  literature,  to  buy  a 
wheel  chair  for  some  invalid,  to  buy  an  organ 
for  a  rescue  home  or  mission,  or  to  help  any 
other  worthy  object,  home  or  foreign,  large  or 
small.  Provide  the  opportunity  for  them  to 
come  into  the  enjoyment  of  this  pleasure  by 
taking  a  collection,  and,  when  you  remit  the 
contribution,  do  so  in  the  name  of  the  prayer 
meeting.     The  response  to  this  opportunity 

165 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

will  not  only  bless  the  recipient,  but  will  more 
surely  bless  the  givers,  and  will  give,  withal, 
not  only  variety  to  the  prayer  meeting,  but 
also  an  added  sense  of  its  worth. 

POST  OFFICE 

236.  Use  the  post  oifice.  Post  cards  are 
cheap.  Questions  to  be  answered,  topics  to  be 
discussed,  and  requests  for  any  other  contri- 
bution to  the  service  can  quickly  and  easily  be 
placed  in  the  hands  of  your  helpers  by  this 
method.  Furthermore,  the  recipients  of  such 
messages,  however  small,  will  always  be 
pleased  at  the  interest  which  manifests  itself 
in  such  recognition. 

DISCUSS  CHURCH  AFFAIRS 

237.  At  times  turn  the  prayer  meeting  into 
a  forum  for  the  discussion  of  some  matter  that 
relates  to  the  life  and  work  of  the  church, 
avoiding  subjects  which  might  engender  con- 
troversy, and  putting  none  forth  but  those  the 
consideration  of  which  can  result  only  in 
mutual  profit. 

QUESTION  DRAWER 

238.  Have  a  question  drawer.  All  ques- 
tions should  be  submitted  in  writing,  and  the 

166 


SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 

leader  should  reserve  the  right  to  discard  any 
the  answering  of  which  in  his  judgment  might 
not  be  helpful  to  the  meeting.  This  method 
provides  the  fullest  opportunity  for  those  who 
have  perplexities  to  state  them  without  dis- 
closing their  identity,  and  that  in  a  place 
where  they  know  their  inquiries  will  receive 
fair  consideration  and  a  sympathetic  answer, 
while  at  the  same  time  it  makes  it  easy  to 
eliminate  all  controversial  themes. 

239.  The  question  draw^er  should  be  an- 
nounced beforehand,  and  all  questions  should 
be  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  leader  or  in  a 
"question  box"  before  the  service  in  which  it 
is  expected  they  are  to  be  answered.  The 
leader  will  thus  have  adequate  opjDortunity  to 
prepare  for  answering  in  a  worthy  way  the 
questions  proposed. 

"quiz  period" 

240,  Questions  may  also  be  introduced  into 
the  meeting  by  the  "Quiz  Period"  method  as 
outlined  by  Christian  F.  Keisner  in  Church 
Publicity  (see  Appendix  B).  Prepare  a  list 
of  questions  relating  to  the  Christian  life; 
place  a  printed  slip  containing  a  complete  list 
in  the  hands  of  each  one  present,  and  let  volun- 

167 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

teers  indicate  by  number  the  ones  they  desire 
answered.  The  leader  thus  has  an  opportunity 
to  bring  before  his  people  a  suggestive  list  of 
inquiries  whose  reading  alone  must  be  bene- 
ficial, while  persons  who  may  not  have 
brought  questions,  or  who  cannot  recall  any 
at  the  moment,  or  who,  because  of  timidity, 
fail  to  ask  questions  upon  their  own  initia- 
tive, are  thus  helped  to  bring  into  the  meeting 
inquiries  which  especially  interest  them. 

BOOK  REVIEW 

241.  If  some  book  has  gripped  your  heart 
for  good,  share  the  blessing  with  your  prayer 
meeting  family  by  presenting  a  review  of  the 
same  at  the  midv/eek  gathering.  Then  loan 
your  volume,  and  also  go  into  the  book  busi- 
ness for  a  while,  imitating  the  fathers  who 
carried  books  in  their  saddlebags,  at  least  to 
the  extent  of  letting  it  be  known  that  you 
would  be  pleased  to  order  copies  for  those  who 
might  desire  them. 

BIOGRAPHY 

242.  Take  time  occasionally  to  read  appro- 
priate extracts  from  the  biographies  of  the 
great  and  good  of  all  the  ages.    These  provide 

168 


SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 

abundant  material  for  the  illustration  of 
Scripture  truth,  and  by  revealing  the  strug- 
gles, disappointments,  conflicts,  and  victories 
of  others  help  those  who  hear  to  better  living. 

DEVOTIONAL  LITERATURE 

243.  The  devotional  literature  of  the  church 
is  rich  with  soul-food  which  the  leader  will  do 
well  to  bring  to  his  people,  at  times,  by  read- 
ing or  having  read  selected  portions.  Helpful 
tracts,  placed  in  the  hands  of  your  people  for 
distribution,  will  minister  blessing  both  to 
those  who  carry  and  to  those  who  receive  them. 

THE  ABSENT   LEADER 

244.  When  the  leader  is  absent,  a  letter  or 
postal  from  him  to  be  read  in  the  gathered 
company  will  bring  to  his  people  all  the  joy 
that  comes  from  expressed  remembrance. 

LETTER   COMMITTEE 

245.  Appoint  a  letter  committee  whose  duty 
it  shall  be  to  keep  in  touch  with  the  absent 
ones  of  the  prayer  meeting  family;  otherwise 
it  is  likely  that  only  occasionally  will  your 
service  receive  a  message  from  them ;  not  that 
they  are  adverse  to  writing,  but  because  they 

169 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

may  not  have  thought  about  it  and  have  not 
been  encouraged  to  do  it.  Communications 
from  absent  ones  in  the  hands  of  others  than 
the  committee  should  also  be  welcomed. 

246.  This  committee  should  also  solicit 
communications  from  those  who  were  once 
members  of  the  prayer  meeting  family,  but  are 
now  away  permanently,  to  be  read  upon  an 
appointed  evening.  Many  will  respond  to  such 
an  invitation  to  the  joy  of  the  whole  company. 

247.  Do  not  save  all  your  missionary  letters 
for  the  missionary  prayer  meeting.  The  read- 
ing of  one  occasionally  in  a  regular  service 
will  minister  good  to  both  cause  and  people. 

PRAYER   MEETING  COMMITTEE 

248.  In  some  places  the  leader  will  find  it 
advantageous  to  use  a  prayer  meeting  commit- 
tee, the  size  and  personnel  of  which  he  should 
determine.  The  counsel  and  advice  of  these 
selected  workers  will  add  to  his  own  efficiency, 
while  in  the  work  of  preparing  programs  for 
special  prayer  meetings  their  help  will  be 
found  invaluable. 

VOLUNTEERS 

249.  If  you  have  some  prison  work  to  be 
done,  some  sick  ones  or  new  families  to  be 

170 


SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 

visited,  some  needy  to  be  ministered  unto,  or 
any  other  Christlike  service  the  members  of 
your  company  might  perform,  and  in  its  per- 
formance not  only  give  but  also  get  a  blessing, 
do  not  always  enlist  your  helpers  privately. 
Call  for  volunteers.  You  will  likely  discover 
some  who  are  willing  to  help  whom  private 
solicitation  might  pass  by.  Not  all  workers  are 
willing  or  even  capacitated  to  do  all  kinds  of 
work;  accordingly,  it  is  well  to  let  each  indi- 
cate, by  written  slip  or  otherwise,  the  kind  of 
service  he  wishes  to  render.  The  call  for 
volunteers  forestalls  any  from  saying  they 
never  had  a  chance,  w^hile  on  the  other  hand, 
it  helps  the  leader  to  utilize  his  forces  to  the 
fullest  possible  extent. 

UNION   PRAYER    MEETING 

250.  Where  the  spirit  of  cooperation  exists 
among  the  churches  of  any  community,  it  will 
further  help  to  magnify  the  great  essentials 
upon  which  we  agree,  and  minimize  the  non- 
essentials concerning  which  we  differ,  to  hold 
union  prayer  meetings  once  every  three 
months.  This  service  should  rotate  among  the 
churches.  The  time  and  place  of  each  meeting 
should  determine  the  details. 

171 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

PRISON^  HOSPITAL^  AND  KINDRED  PRAYER 
MEETINGS 

251.  Prayer  meeting  folks  are  the  very  ones 
to  hold  prison,  hospital,  shop,  mission,  and 
rescue  home  prayer  meetings.  The  reason  many 
have  not  done  this  kind  of  work  lies  in  the 
fact  that  they  have  not  been  led  to  do  it.  The 
leader  should  meet  the  opportunity  his  com- 
munity affords  in  this  line  by  enlisting  his 
company  for  this  gracious  work,  and  sending 
them  forth  in  small  bands.  He,  himself, 
should  not  stay  behind.  Those  who  go  will 
give,  get,  and  bring  a  blessing. 

RECITATION 

252.  Delight  your  prayer  meeting  family  by 
having  some  one  give  a  recitation.  The 
pleasure  of  this  exercise  will  be  equaled  by 
the  profit  which  comes  not  only  to  the  hearers 
but  to  the  reader  as  well.  And,  since  the  reci- 
tation, like  every  other  exercise,  should  not 
be  contributed  for  its  own,  but  for  the  prayer 
meeting's  sake,  the  leader  should  see  to  it  that 
the  selection  is  in  harmony  with  the  prayer 
meeting  spirit  and  that  it  is  appropriate  for 
the  particular  occasion,  whether  patriotic, 
temperance,  missionary,  or  any  other. 

172 


SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 
CREED  AND  CATECHISM 

253.  The  leader  may  very  appropriately  in- 
troduce short  studies  of  the  creed  and  cate- 
chism into  the  prayer  meeting.  The  presenta- 
tion of  these  great  documents  of  the  church 
will  not  only  be  a  pleasure  to  those  who  have 
previously  studied  them,  but  will  give  pleasure 
and  be  of  profit  to  those,  and  the  number  of 
such  is  too  large  by  far,  who  have  not  given 
adequate  time  to  their  consideration. 

PRAYER  LIST 

254.  It  is  the  privilege  of  Christians  to  be 
laboring  for  the  salvation  of  souls  always. 
Enlist  your  prayer  meeting  company  definitely 
in  this  work.  To  this  end  provide  each  attend- 
ant with  a  "prayer  list"  card,  that  is,  a  card 
with  a  simple  promise,  pledging  daily  prayer 
and  faithful  personal  effort  for  the  salvation 
of  those  in  whom  the  holder  of  the  card  is 
especially  interested,  followed  by  blank  spaces 
for  their  names.  Let  the  owners  of  the  cards 
keep  them  in  their  Bibles  as  constant  remind- 
ers of  their  privilege  and  duty. 

MEMORY   WORK 

255.  Have  some  memory  work  in  your 
prayer  meeting.    Certainly.    It  will  be  worth 

173 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

while.  Very  few  of  us  ever  take  time  to  mem- 
orize a  great  thought  from  the  world's  best 
thinking  about  divine  things,  a  stanza  of  some 
hymn,  or  even  a  verse  of  Scripture.  We  drift. 
Most  of  us,  however,  would  be  pleased  if  some 
one  were  to  set  us  at  the  task,  especially  so, 
if  they  were  to  provide  time  for  it  and  help 
us  in  its  doing.  Here  lies  the  prayer  meeting 
leader's  opportunity. 

256.  Gather  your  quotations  from  the  Bible, 
the  Hymnal,  and  from  the  world's  devotional 
literature.  Be  a  school  teacher  for  five 
minutes.  Use  the  blackboard  and  pointer. 
Have  individuals  read  the  quotation;  drill  by 
sections,  by  ages;  repeat  in  unison  with  and 
then  without  the  blackboard.  Review  upon 
the  week  following.  Young  and  old  will  like 
it  and  will  carry  out  into  life  to  enrich  it  for- 
ever some  of  the  choicest  "gems"  of  Holy 
Scripture  and  of  the  hymnology  of  the  church, 
and  some  of  the  most  sublime  expressions  of 
devotion  which  have  sprung  from  the  lips  of 
devout  men  through  all  the  ages. 

PRAYER   MEETING  SCRAPBOOK 

257,  Have  a  prayer  meeting  scrapbook.  The 
use  of  such  a  volume,  so  common  in  our  homes, 

174 


SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 

will  help  emphasize  the  homelike  and  family 
feeling  that  should  characterize  every  prayer 
meeting;  and,  besides,  the  things  that  go  into 
it  will  make  it  of  great  interest  and  value  in 
later  years.  A  substantial  volume  of  the  loose- 
leaf  variety  will  serve  this  purpose  admirably. 
258.  Divide  your  book  into  departments, 
and  at  the  top  of  each  place  a  neat  heading. 
You  will  want  at  least  the  eleven  following : 

(1)  Our  spiritual  'birthdays.  Under  this  head  have 
each  attendant  write  his  or  her  name,  together  with 
the  date  and  place  of  their  conversion.  Those  who 
cannot  give  exact  dates  may  give  approximate  time. 
This  simple  record  will  not  only  be  intensely  inter- 
esting, but  will  also  magnify  the  great  experience  of 
the  new  birth. 

(2)  Record  of  attendance. 

(3)  Record  of  Scripture  used. 

(4)  Answered  prayer.  Those  who  make  acknowl- 
edgment of  answered  prayers  in  the  meeting  should  be 
encouraged  to  put  the  same  into  writing  in  not  more 
than  one  hundred  words  for  preservation  in  the  scrap- 
book.  Some  who  desire  to  acknowledge  answers  will 
not  desire  to  give  details.  To  accommodate  such  have 
a  page  headed  thus:  "We  acknowledge  answers  to  our 
prayers,"  and  under  this  head  merely  enroll  the  names. 

(5)  Memory  gems.  The  quotations  memorized  by 
the  company  should  be  placed  here. 

(6)  Clippings.  Men  gather  the  best  of  all  literature 
and  publish  it  for  profit;  the  prayer  meeting  company 
may  do  the  same  for  spiritual  profit.     When  some  sub- 

175 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

ject,  as  love,  joy,  peace,  goodness,  hope,  mercy,  faith, 
home,  heaven,  or  any  other  suitable  for  this  purpose,  is 
announced,  request  the  company  to  bring  clippings  or 
extracts  which  they  have  copied  from  their  reading 
to  be  read  in  the  service.  After  the  reading  give  them 
permanent  place  in  the  scrapbook. 

(7)  Visitors'  page.  Upon  this  page  enter  the  names 
and  addresses  of  visitors. 

(8)  Letters  from  absent  ones. 

(9)  Letters  from  former  attendants. 

(10)  Letters  from  m^issionaries. 

Under  these  last  three  heads  place  all  letters  which 
helong  to  them  respectively. 

(11)  Illustrations.  In  this  department  place  all  pic- 
tures brought  to  the  prayer  meeting  for  the  purpose  of 
illustrating  missionary  or  other  subjects. 

259.  Being  merely  a  repository  of  the  things 
which  are  contributed  by  the  attendants  to 
the  service,  the  scrapbook  itself  should  have 
a  very  inconspicuous  place  in  the  meeting. 
Keep  it  where  those  present  may  have  the 
privilege  of  examining  it  in  the  social  moments 
before  or  after  the  service. 

260.  The  care  of  the  scrapbook  should  be  in 
the  hands  of  a  custodian,  or  secretary,  pref- 
erably some  young  person,  appointed  by  the 
leader. 

THE   CHURCH   PAPER 

261.  The  church  paper  is  one  of  the  pastor's 
most  efiflcient  assistants.     Weekly  it  widens 

176 


SOME  OTHER  THINGS  WORTH  WHILE 

the  vision,  deepens  the  sympathies,  and  nur- 
tures devotion.  Invite  those  who  receive  it 
to  share  it  with  your  company  by  setting 
apart  twenty  minutes  of  an  appointed  even- 
ing in  which  they  may  tell  in  their  own  words, 
briefly,  what  thing  in  some  recent  issue  has 
appealed  to  them.  Supplement,  as  may  be 
needed,  from  your  own  marked  copy,  the  con- 
tributions of  others.  A  church  paper  "atmos- 
phere" will  thus  be  created  which  will  not 
only  interest  and  bless  for  the  moment,  but 
will,  when  the  canvass  is  made,  add  new  names 
to  the  list  of  those  whose  homes  welcome  this 
helper  in  holy  things. 

PRINTING 

262.  Whatever  printing  you  have  done  for 
your  prayer  meeting,  see  that  it  is  neat  and 
attractive.  If  so  it  will  please ;  and  whatever 
pleases,  draws.  It  will  cost  more,  of  course, 
but  you  can  well  afford  to  pay  the  difference. 


177 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  BENEDICTION 


Paragraph 

263.     Should  be  appropriate. 
264-278.     Forms  of  benediction: 

265.  Apostolic  benediction. 

266.  Protestant  benediction. 

267.  The  Lord's  Prayer. 

268.  Extempore  prayer. 

269.  Scripture. 

270.  Hymn. 

271.  Israel's  ancient  formula. 

272.  "A  good  meeting  to-night." 

273.  "Glad  to  see  you." 

274.  "Quaker"  benediction. 

275.  Aaronic  benediction. 

(1)  Epworth  League. 

(2)  Baptist  Young  People's  Union. 

276.  Mizpah,  The  United   Society  of  Chris- 

tian Endeavor  benediction. 

277.  The  "Gloria." 

278.  A  benediction  indeed. 


CHAPTER  XII 

The  Benediction 

^'Thy  blessing  is  upon  thy  people/' — Psalm  3. 8. 

263.  If  a  prayer  meeting  whose  freshness 
and  beauty  have  been  enhanced  by  the  variety 
which  has  been  put  into  it  is  to  maintain  its 
spirit,  the  element  of  happy  surprise  should 
be  in  it  to  the  very  end.  That  means  that  the 
benediction  must  not  become  stereotyped. 
Different  prayer  meetings  call  for  different 
kinds  of  benediction,  and  it  is  wise  to  use  them. 
Since  the  leader  cannot  know  what  turn  the 
meeting  will  take,  so  he  cannot  with  certainty 
tell  beforehand  which  benediction  will  be  most 
suitable.  For  instance,  if  the  meeting  seems 
(mark  you,  the  word  is  "seems")  to  fall  flat, 
he  could  not  very  appropriately  use  the  exer- 
cise in  which  each  is  to  say  to  the  other,  "We 
have  had  a  good  meeting  to-night,"  for  while 
no  service  of  prayer  really  fails,  there  would 
be  some  to  whom  such  a  benediction  would  be 
meaningless,  and,  for  them,  out  of  place.  The 
benediction  should  graciously  crown  the  happy 

181 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

hour.  To  this  end  the  leader  should  thor- 
oughly familiarize  himself  with  all  the  forms 
of  dismissal,  so  that  if  the  one  he  had  intended 
to  use  should  not  comport  with  the  spirit  of 
the  meeting  he  may  use  another.  Happily, 
benedictions  are  so  numerous,  and  their  char- 
acter so  varied,  as  to  adequately  meet  every 
demand  the  spirit  of  the  meeting  may  lay  upon 
them. 

2G4.  Both  leader  and  company  will  find 
pleasure  and  profit  in  the  use  of  the  following : 

265.  The  apostolic  benediction,  2  Cor.  13. 
14: 

The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  love  of 
God,  and  the  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  be  with 
you  all.    Amen. 

266.  The  following,  full  of  grace  and 
beauty,  taken  chiefly  from  Scripture;  a  part 
of  it  from  Phil.  4.  7,  the  remainder  a  para- 
phrase upon  Num.  6.  24,  25,  by  its  wide  use 
among  Protestant  churches,  may  very  prop- 
erly be  called  the  Protestant  benediction : 

The  peace  of  God,  which  passeth  all  understanding, 

keep  your  hearts  and  minds  in  the  knowledge  and  love 

of  God,  and  of  his  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord;  and  the 

blessing  of  God  Almighty,  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 

182 


THE  BENEDICTION 

Holy  Ghost,  be  among  you,  and  remain  with  you  always. 
Amen. 

267.  Have  all  unite  in  repeating  tlie  Lord's 
Prayer : 

Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  thy  name. 
Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  in  earth,  as  it 
is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread:  and 
forgive  us  our  trespasses,  as  we  forgive  them  that  tres- 
pass against  us:  and  lead  us  not  into  temptation,  but 
deliver  us  from  evil:  for  thine  is  the  kingdom,  and  the 
power,  and  the  glory,  forever.     Amen. 

Any  other  prayer  suitable  for  the  purpose  and 
familiar  to  all  may  be  used  in  like  form. 

268.  Let  the  leader  or  some  other  person 
dismiss  with  extempore  prayer. 

269.  Let  the  closing  be  with  some  passage  of 
Scripture,  such  as : 

Let  the  words  of  my  mouth,  and  the  meditation  of 
my  heart,  be  acceptable  in  thy  sight,  O  Lord,  my 
strength,  and  my  redeemer. 

270.  While  singing  a  familiar  hymn  have 
a  general  handshake;  or,  have  the  handshake 
after  the  singing.  A  beautiful  and  appro- 
priate closing  for  the  Agape  Prayer  Meeting 
(paragraphs  227-230)  is  for  the  company,  like 
the  disciples  when  they  left  the  upper  room 

183 


VAEIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

in  Jerusalem,  after  singing  a  hymn,  to  go  out, 
quietly,  dispensing  with  the  usual  social  half 
hour. 

271.  Liken  the  going  forth  of  the  prayer 
meeting  company  to  the  moving  forward  of 
Israel  when  on  the  way  to  Canaan,  and  then 
unitedly  from  memory  repeat  Israel's  ancient 
formula,  Num.  10.  35: 

Rise  up,  Lord,  and  let  thine  enemies  be  scattered; 
and  let  them  that  hate  thee  flee  before  thee. 

This  is  a  militant  but  glorious  benediction,  fit 
indeed  for  saints  who  "must  fight  if  they 
would  reign." 

272.  When  one  of  those  glorious  occasions 
is  enjoyed  in  which  every  one  without  excep- 
tion feels  the  blessedness  of  it,  have  everyone 
shake  hands  with  at  least  three  persons  and 
say  to  each,  "We  have  had  a  good  meeting 
to-night."  The  mere  saying  so  will  bless 
hearts  and  prepare  them  to  repeat  it  on  the 
morrow  out  in  the  world. 

273.  It  may  be  truly  said  that  everyone  who 
attends  prayer  meeting  is  glad  to  see  the  neigh- 
bors and  friends  and  especially  strangers  pres- 
ent, but  how  few  ever  say  so !  Here  is  a  chance 
for  training  in  that  beautiful  courtesy.    Have 

184 


THE  BENEDICTION 

eacli  one  say  to  at  least  three  others  while 
shaking  hands  with  them,  "I  am  glad  to  see 
you  to-night."  Formality,  if  indeed  it  lingers 
to  this  moment,  will  be  quickly  dispelled  by 
this  expression  of  appreciation. 

274.  That  which  in  some  parts  is  called  the 
"Quaker  benediction"  makes  a  delightful  clos- 
ing. It  is  a  prayer  couched  in  Quaker  phrase- 
ology, whose  petitions  are  for  the  richest 
things  in  grace — the  blessing  of  God,  his  keep- 
ing, and  that  in  all  its  fullness.  Its  use  never 
fails  to  bless.  Have  each  one  shake  hands 
with  at  least  three  others  and  say  to  each, 
"The  Lord  bless  thee,  and  keep  thee,  and  give 
thee  a  shouting  blessing."  If  when  this  bene- 
diction is  used  somebody  says  "Praise  the 
Lord!"  or  "Hallelujah!"  it  will  not  spoil  the 
closing. 

275.  The  Aaronic  benediction.  Num.  6.  24- 
26,  may  be  used  according  to  the  forms  fol- 
lowed by  two  great  societies  of  young  people. 
(1)  The  Epworth  League,  thus: 

Leader.        The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee. 
Response.     The  Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee, 

and  be  gracious  unto  thee. 
All.  The   Lord    lift   up    his   countenance    upon 

thee,  and  give  thee  peace. 
185 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

(2)  And  the  Baptist  Young  People's  Union, 
thus : 

All  repeat.  "The  Lord  bless  thee  and  keep  thee.  The 
Lord  make  his  face  shine  upon  thee,  and  be  gracious 
unto  thee.  The  Lord  lift  up  his  countenance  upon 
thee  and  give  thee  peace." 

276.  Use  the  "Mizpah,"  Gen.  31,  49,  of  the 
United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor: 

All  repeat.  "The  Lord  watch  between  me  and  thee, 
when  we  are  absent  one  from  another." 

277.  The  "Gloria"  makes  a  beautiful  bene- 
diction.   Use  it  thus : 

Leader.  Glory  be  to  the  Father, 

Response.  Glory  he  to  the  Father, 

L.  Glory  be   to  the   Son, 

R.  Glory  be  to  the  Son, 

L.  Glory  be  to  the  Holy  Ghost; 

R.  Glory  be  to  the  Holy  Ghost; 

L.  As  it  was  in  the  beginning, 

R.  As  it  was  in  the  beginning, 

L.  Is  now,  and  ever  shall  be, 

R.  Is  now,  and  ever  shall  be, 

L.  World  without  end.     Amen. 

R.  World  without  end.     Amen. 
All  sing  the  entire  "Gloria." 

278.  When  the  meeting  is  crowned  with  the 
conversion  of  souls,  let  the  dismissal  center 
about  the  new  converts  by  every  one  shaking 

186 


THE  BENEDICTION 

hands  with  them  and  wishing  them  well  in 
the  Christian  life.  Shake  hands  with  each 
other;  rejoice  together,  and  sing^  and  shout, 
and  keep  God's  heavenly  host  company,  for 
"likewise  shall  joy  be  in  heaven  over  one  sin- 
ner that  repenteth."  A  benediction  like  this 
is  a  benediction  indeed ! 


187 


O  thou  by  whom  we  come  to  God, 
The  Life,  the  Truth,  the  Way; 

The  path  of  prayer  thyself  hath  trod: 
Lord,  teach  us  how  to  pray! 

—James  Montgomery. 


APPENDIX 

PRAYER  MEETING  BIBLIOGRAPHY 

A — Books 

Banks,  Louis  Albert.  A  Year's  Prayer  Meeting  Talks. 
Pp.  289.  1889.  Funk  and  Wagnalls  Company:  New- 
York  and  London. 

Banks,  Louis  Albert.  Illustrative  Prayer  Meeting 
Talks.  Pp.  194.  1901.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Com- 
pany: New  York,  Chicago,  Toronto,  London,  and 
Edinburgh. 

Banks,  Louis  Albert.  Unused  Rainbows.  Pp.  194.  1907. 
This  volume  is  the  second  edition  of  Illustrative 
Prayer  Meeting  Talks  and  is  the  same  with  the 
exception  of  the  title.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Com- 
pany: New  York,  Chicago,  Toronto,  London,  and 
Edinburgh. 

Campbell,  James  M.  Bible  Questions.  Pp.  267.  1900. 
A  volume  of  fifty-two  studies  based,  upon  as  many 
questions  taken  from  Scripture.  Funk  and  Wag- 
nalls Company:   New  York  and  London. 

Clark,  F.  E.  Young  People's  Prayer  Meeting.*  Pp. 
167.  1887.  Funk  and  Wagnalls  Company:  New 
York  and  London. 

Cowan,  John  F.  New  Life  in  the  Old  Prayer  Meet- 
ing.* Pp.  237.  1906.  Fleming  H.  Revell  Company: 
New  York,  Chicago,  Toronto,  London,  and  Edin- 
burgh. 

Groat,  Wm.  H.     The  Ideal  Prayer  Meeting.     Out  of 
print.     Fleming   H.    Revell    Company:    New    York, 
Chicago,  Toronto,  London,  and  Edinburgh. 
Note. — Volumes  marked  thus  *  contain,  besides  other 

material,  lists  of  topics  for  prayer  meetings. 
189 


VAKIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

Haller,  J.  George,  The  Redemption  of  the  Prayer 
Meeting.*  Pp.  222.  1911.  The  Methodist  Book 
Concern:  New  York  and  Cincinnati;  Publishing 
House  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South: 
Nashville,  Tenn.,  and  Dallas,  Tex. 

Hiscox,  E.  T.  The  Stae  Book  on  Prayeb  Meeting.* 
Pp.  183.     1887.     Ward  and  Drummond:   New  York. 

Lloyd,  W.  P.  Two  Years  in  a  Growing  Prayer  Meet- 
ing. Pp.  122.  1907.  Publishing  House  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  South:  Nashville, 
Tenn.,  and  Dallas,  Tex. 

Meyer,  F.  B.  Mr.  Meyer  writes  the  introduction  to 
One  Hundred  Prayer  Meeting  Talks  and  Plans. 
Pp.  544.    1911.    F.  M.  Barton:  Cleveland,  O. 

Ogburn,  Cal.  The  Young  People's  Prayer  Meeting, 
AND  Its  Improvement.  Christian  Publishing  Com- 
pany:   Saint  Louis. 

Randall,  Edwin  M.  The  Devotional  Meeting.  Pp.  104. 
1910.  The  Methodist  Book  Concern:  New  York  and 
Cincinnati. 

Richardson,  Norman  E.  Editor  Present-Day  Prayer- 
Meeting  Helps.  Pp.  139.  1910.  The  Methodist 
Book  Concern:  New  York  and  Cincinnati. 

Thompson,  Lewis  O.  How  to  Conduct  Prayer  Meeting. 
Out  of  print.  Fleming  H,  Revell  Company:  New 
York,  Chicago,  Toronto,  London,  and  Edinburgh. 

Thompson,  Lewis  O.  The  Prayer  Meeting  and  Its 
Improvement.  Out  of  print.  W.  G.  Holmes:  Chi- 
cago. 

Wells,  Amos  R.  Prayer  Meeting  Methods.  Pp.  174. 
1896.  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor:  Bos- 
ton and  Chicago. 

Young,  R.     Importance  of  the  Prayer  Meeting.     Out 

of  print.    The  Methodist  Book  Concern:  New  York 

and  Cincinnati. 

190 


APPENDIX 

Peayeb  Meeting  Talks.  Pp.  428.  1910.  Names  of 
authors  are  not  given.  Publishing  House  of  the 
Evangelical  Association:    Cleveland,  O. 

B. — Books  with  Parts  Devoted  to  the 
Prayer  Meeting 

Beecher,  Henry  Ward.  Yale  Lectures  on  Pkeaching. 
Two  chapters  covering  sixty-one  pages  are  found 
in  this  yolume.  These  lectures  were  delivered  in 
1873.     The  Pilgrim  Press:   Boston  and  Chicago. 

Clark,  Francis  E.  A  chapter  by  this  author  appears  in 
Pledge  Promptings.  1912.  United  Society  of 
Christian  Endeavor:  Boston  and  Chicago. 

Graham,  Henry.  The  Preacher  and  His  Work.  1906. 
Pages  60  to  66  of  Chapter  VIII  are  devoted  to  the 
prayer  meeting.  The  Methodist  Book  Concern: 
New  York  and  Cincinnati. 

Reisner,  Christian  F.  Workable  Plans  for  Wide- 
awake Churches.  1906.  Chapter  VII  is  devoted  to 
the  "Midweek  Prayer  Service:  Interest  and  Profit." 
The  Methodist  Book  Concern:  New  York  and  Cin- 
cinnati. 

Reisner,  Christian  F.  Church  Publicity,  1913.  Eleven 
pages,  246-256,  of  Chapter  XII,  "Morning  and  mid- 
week methods,"  are  given  to  the  prayer  meeting. 
Here  may  be  found  the  list  of  eighty-six  questions 
used  by  Dr.  Reisner  in  his  "Quiz  Period"  (see 
paragraph  240  in  chapter  on  "Some  Other  Things 
Worth  While").  The  Methodist  Book  Concern: 
New  York  and  Cincinnati. 

C. — Tracts  and  Pamphlets 

Hoyt,  D.  D.     The  Prayer  Meeting.     Pp.  4.     American 

Baptist  Publication  Society:   Philadelphia,  Pa, 

191 


VARIETY  IN  THE  PRAYER  MEETING 

Nordell,  Phillip  A.  The  Modern  Church.  Lesson  X, 
pages  62-68,  deal  with  "The  Prayer  or  Conference 
Meeting."     Charles  Scribner's  Sons:   New  York. 

Pope,  H.  W.  Prayer  Meeting  Plans.  Pp.  18.  United 
Society  of  Christian  Endeavor:  Boston  and  Chicago. 

Wells,  Amos  R.  How  to  Lead:  Hints  for  Leaders 
OF  Christian  Endeavor  Prater  Meeting.  Pp.  12. 
1900.  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor:  Boa- 
ton  and  Chicago. 

Hints  on  Taking  Part  in  Prater  Meeting.  Pp.  4. 
1898.  United  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor:  Bos- 
ton and  Chicago. 

It's  a  Long  Hard  Step  from  Sundat  to  Sunday  With- 
out Help.  Pp.  6.  Woolverton  Printing  and  Pub- 
lishing Company:    Osage,  la. 

Compact  of  the  One  Hundred.  Woolverton  Printing 
and  Publishing  Company:  Osage,  la. 

Prater  Meeting  Invitation  Folder.  Pp.  4.  Woolver- 
ton Printing  and  Publishing  Company:    Osage,   la. 

We  Hope  to  See  You  at  Prayer  Meeting.  Woolverton 
Printing  and  Publishing  Company:  Osage,  la. 


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